How are the budgets of more rural libraries affected? Also, why is lower funding pitched as "getting the state out of local library decisions" when revoking the funding is a consequence of the state involving itself in local library decisions?

I did get blocked by a not-so-known author in the early days of twitter after asking an innocuous question. It was weird, but you can’t predict anything (especially on social media).

This bill would hit hardest those programs that rely on state funding where city or county funding falls short.

Anyway, the double-think being exhibited in a statement like this is astounding:

>Republican Rep. Dirk Deaton of Noel defended the law and the decision to strip public library funding in response to the lawsuit. “It’s been said this is a book ban. This is not that,” Deaton said. “It is protecting innocent children.”

He completely disconnects purpose, cause, and effect. Let's pretend for a moment that this action protects innocent children. How would it do that? By defunding libraries that dare to legally challenge book bans. Dirk Deaton tells a big lie because he knows that "protecting children" is a weak band-aid that covers the Republican power grab for strictly controlling the information the public has free access to.

I’ve tagged authors on social media before when talking about how much I recommend their books, or the positive impact their work has had on me etc etc, and have generally got responses (which surprised me the first couple times) saying, essentially, “Thanks that’s so nice to read.”

I think most creatives like to hear positive feedback on their work, and as long as your message is about their writing and not your perception of the author (or a Stan-style missive) they’re generally happy to receive it.

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I've done this before (at least 5 times now) and have always received a reply (on Twitter, email and even on LinkedIn). But the thing is, I don't send appreciation messages. I ask them doubts I have from their work. Irrespective of whether it's fiction or non-fiction, I've felt authors are very ready to reply to you if you ask them specific doubts from their work. More so if you offer them some good suggestion for inclusion in future revisions.

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Ralph Roberts is one of King’s best characters, and the most Everyman.

"How about both?" - fascism

Sending author's fan mail is definitely a thing. Check their social media and see what they use most. Whether it's email or social media.

I remember Brandon Sanderson wrote a lovely blog post I guess about Robert Jordan's passing. Jordan's wife Harriet happened to read it and put Sanderson on a very short list of authors to finish the Wheel of Time series. Finishing the WOT is how I found out about Sanderson.

I also really loved Jane Eyre. Wuthering Heights is one of my least favorite books I’ve ever read for the exact reasons you mentioned.

I’ve replied to this same response elsewhere but for accuracy’s sake please provide the quote and citation in full. Thanks.

Thanks!

I have read 4 Tey novels and just the 1 Allingham.

So, for Tey i really liked all of them, but To Love and be Wise and The Franchise Affair were my favourites. Daughter of Time is another famous one, but i haven't read it yet. (The other two that i did read were A Schilling for Candles and Miss Pym Disposes )

The only Allingham i ever read was Hide my Eyes . I quite liked it, because you already know who the killer is right in the beginning, but it's all about when and how the story will resolve itself.

Respectfully, I couldn’t care less what Ben Franklin said. That’s not a compelling position. I would suggest that taxation, the mode for which these libraries largely exist and are funded, is tyranny. I think the market would deliver a superior product and variety of product, and more importantly it would be done through voluntary instead of coercive means

Curious, in what country are you teaching?

I've emailed one! Aiden Chambers. Told him how much I identified with Cordelia Kenn as a young teenager and how much I appreciated how well he wrote female characters. He responded and we had a nice little baxk and forth chat for a few weeks.

Ben Franklin literally said himself that public libraries and a well-informed public are essential for preventing future tyranny.

It's perfectly fine to send fan-letters to your favorite authors. I wish I'd done so more often (before a couple of them died).

I've e-mailed Tony Ballantyne a couple times pestering him about the third book in the Penrose trilogy. :p

Nice to see Villette here, people often forget about it but it's one of my favorites.

Ben Franklin literally said himself that public libraries and a well-informed public are essential for preventing future tyranny.

I wrote once about thirty years ago and specifically said that I did not expect a response I just wanted to say x y z. I got a form letter from a publisher saying they’d passed it on and they knew she appreciated being appreciated. Which was fine

FFS, libertarians are morons.

Yay!

I email all my favorite authors. Most of them have some kind of Contact me section on their websites. Or even Fb pages. So far all have responded in some way,