Heard from Peter Mayer

[pegkerr]

I've mentioned the Minnesota singer Peter Mayer's music before on this LiveJournal; I love his music and have all of his CDs and have heard him in concert several times. I mentioned that a number of his songs made it onto my Winter playlist. I especially recommend his album Midwinter for anyone who has seasonal affective disorder. There is one song in particular on that album, "The Longest Night" that has been an especial comfort. (You can hear a lovely clip from the beginning of "The Longest Night" from the page for this album at CD Baby.)

So I contacted him by e-mail through his website to let him know how much his music has meant to me. I just got a lovely acknowledgment e-mail back from him.

I've gotten some notes by e-mail over the year from people responding to my books, and so I know how much it can mean to an artist/creator to hear from people who have enjoyed their work. I have a friend who is a well-known YA author, who has remarked rather wryly about letters she gets from kids at times. "Clearly school assignments," she says. "Their teacher thinks it would be a marvelous idea to have the kids write to a favorite author and get an answer back--never thinking to include an SASE or to consider the financial and time burden it would be to reply when I can sometimes get hundreds of the things a month. Funny how they dry up during the summer when school is out."

True. So I approached him by e-mail, not expecting a reply, but was very pleased to hear back from him.

Have you ever written to an artist, an author or a musician, just to tell him or her how much you've enjoyed their work? Tell me about it, why you felt the urge to write. Did you get any kind of response? I've sent a number of them myself over the years. Not all of them have responded.

Comments

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

Longtime lurker, er, second or third time commenter?

I wrote Karin Lowachee an email about a year ago. She's an new/up and coming science fiction author and I'd finished her first and second books. Both were novel, insightful, clever and handled difficult material very well. I was pleasantly surprised to get a nice email back that wasn't a form letter and to find out that she regularly participates in discussions on the fan boards on her webpage too.

On the other hand, if I wrote someone like Stephen King or JK Rowling, I wouldn't expect something more than a form letter, if that.

[msavi.livejournal.com]

I once sent an email to the band Astronaut Wife (I'd link, but it looks like their website is down for upgrades) because I'd heard one of their songs on a sample CD, and I liked it enough to buy the whole album on faith. The album was really good too. I'd never heard anything quite like it. So I sent them a short kudos in email form, and I remember that I got a short but very sweet thank you in return.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

I read Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson, when I saw it recommended in Making Light, and I was delightfully amused to discover the protagonist attended my alma mater, so I wrote the author to ask him if he'd attended or ever visited, and got a delightful short note back later that day. I was especially surprised at how swift the response was. (For the record, no, Mr. Wilson just did impeccable research.)

And speaking of authorial interaction, Peg, your graciousness when I met you at Nimbus (and stuck a copy of Wild Swans under your nose and begged you to autograph it and played breathless fangirl) was one of the best Meeting The Authors I've ever had, and it's one of my favorite moments from that entire convention. =)

[fireflowerlass.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, Peter Mayer is fantastic! I just added him to my Pandora list.

I wrote a letter to Howard Shore after I saw Lord of the Rings in Concert, thanking him for writing such a wonderful score, and told him how it moved me so much. I didn't get a reply back, but that's ok. I got to connect with him in another way :-)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Have you heard his Midwinter album? It's just stunning. Here's a clip from that beautiful song I mentioned, "The Longest Night."

[fireflowerlass.livejournal.com]

Wow, it is fantastic! I really want to get my hands on that album, heehee.

[aranel.livejournal.com]

I wrote an email to John M. Ford a few days after September 11 this year, telling him that I'd followed a link to "110 Stories" and read it once, silently, sobbing, and again, aloud, sobbing. I don't remember what else I said, probably that it was a poem written for particular moment, but also so perfect that I expect people to be reading it hundreds of years from now when it needs footnotes to explain the historical context. My email went to a defunct address and bounced back. I didn't take the time to track down a working email address.

About a week letter, he was gone. Send your appreciations to artists who have moved you and changed your life, now, while there's still time.

[enegim.livejournal.com]

I've written to quite a few, especially musical artists. My favorite was the late Dave Carter (http://www.daveandtracy.com); I heard "When I Go" in spring of 1999 and immediately wrote to tell him how the gorgeous title cut had affected me. He wrote back, and we maintained an occasional correspondence until he died three years later. He and Chris Smither (http://www.smither.com) (who hasn't replied to my note!) are still favorites.

[papersky.livejournal.com]

I've had incredibly good luck doing this. I have written unabashed fan mail to Dodie Smith, Sumner Locke Elliott and Guy Gavriel Kay, and in all cases recieved long and thoughtful replies, and in the last began a friendly correspondence that went on for some time. I haven't done it for a long time, though.

[awallens.livejournal.com]

I wrote to Joan Medlicott, the author of the Covington books and got a response back, which was lovely.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I wrote a paper letter to Guy Gavriel Gay back when Tigana first came out and the trilogy wasn't available in the USA. He wrote back, and explained why he wouldn't tell the meaning of the last riselka.

I wrote a paper letter to a guy who wrote a bike-touring book, Dennis Coelho, telling some of my stories and how my packing list differed from his. He telephoned me and asked if I wanted to contribute to his mountain-biking book.

E-mail makes it all easier, of course. I wrote to singers in Wyrd Sisters and Malaika, offering to share the amateur transcriptions of their harmonies that I had and asking if they had any more sheet music I could buy. They both wrote back, but neither had any music available.

I think there are some others, but I can't remember. I was a Pamela Dean fan before we became USENET friends, but I didn't mention how much I loved Tam Lin until after we'd talked about other things, so I don't know if that counts.

Do you know the Wyrd Sisters' Solstice Carole?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

No, I'm not familiar with it. What album is it on?

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

It's from Leave a Little Light, which appears to be unavailable. It's in a minor key, in 3 or 4 parts for women's voices, and I have the sheet music somewhere although I don't seem to be able to open the file on my computer ...

a fire is burning
the long night draws near
all who need comfort
are welcome by here
we'll dance 'neath the stars
and toast the past year
for the spirit of solstice
is still living here

we'll count all our blessings
while the mother lays down
with snow as her blanket
covering the ground
thanks to the mother
for the life that she brings
she'll waken to warm us
again in the spring

the poor and the hungry
the sick and the lost
these are our children
no matter the cost
come by the fire
the harvest to share
for the spirit of solstice
is still living here

a fire is burning
the long night draws near
all who need comfort
are welcome by here
we'll dance 'neath the stars
and toast the past year
for the spirit of solstice
is still living here

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. I love that. I wonder if the mp3 is available on iTunes.

Is the sheet music for this something you transcribed yourself, or is it available to buy for public performance? Because if the music is anywhere near as pretty as the words, I'd love to pass it on to the people who organize our church's Solstice service.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I typed it in from hand-written copies, which were probably transcribed and arranged by someone listening to the music. The choir with whom I performed it tended to be, er, informal, about music copying and performance rights, but I know that Kim answers e-mail and is reasonable. (Er, at least she was a few years ago, before she got fed up with our newsgroup-in-common). I would be glad to share what I have, though.

It doesn't seem to be in iTunes.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I've done it a number of times over the many years, often but not always receiving responses. Two that stand out were Colin Fletcher (best known as author of The Complete Walker, but the book I wrote him about was The Man Who Walked through Time), who sent me back a postal card crammed with tiny totally and beautifully legible handwriting; and Jennifer Warnes, who was in my class in high school and whose music I have enjoyed so much over the years--she sent back a short handwritten note claiming to remember me and thanking me for my note.

William Least Heat Moon

[amandageist.livejournal.com]

...who writes the most lyrical, beautiful journeys ever written, of the soul and of the land. Some years ago I was working with an editorial client--a hobby author, doing a travelogue of his bicycle tour across the country (to celebrate his 70th, no less)--who had been inspired by Least Heat Moon's work when I'd pointed it out to him.

I sent a copy of this author's self-published book to Least Heat Moon, with a note of what it had meant to the author--and got a lovely handwritten letter back, with his home address on the return envelope, saying that he appreciated the book and it was in his private collection. This information blew away my client. Least Heat Moon also sent me a gift in return, a chapbook pre-release of a portion of one of his books.

I felt the door was open to begin a correspondence--especially since he'd provided his own return address--but right about then was when I had my third child and had to think about going back to work, and my half-written response to him languishes in my files.

I am glad that my action gave such happiness to my client, though; he died shortly afterward.

~Amanda

[naomikritzer]

I sent a fan e-mail to Dan Savage's partner, Terry, after reading The Commitment. (By the way, if you haven't read it, Peg -- I think you would really like it. Be absolutely sure to read all the way to the end. Past the "about the author" note.) I do not write much about Ed even in my LJ, by mutual agreement; he is a private person, and does not like being written about, even nice things. Dan writes about Terry in a loving but extremely personal way. I love reading his books about his family -- I read The Kid when it came out as well -- and I wanted to tell Terry how much I appreciate his willingness to allow Dan to write these incredibly personal things about him, and how moved I have been by the stories about his family. I sent the e-mail care of Dan, and have no idea if he actually passed it along. (Terry did not write back, nor did I expect him to.)

Peter Mayer

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

http://rivka.livejournal.com/330650.html

B

[sraun]

When I was in junior high, Patricia McKillip wrote The Riddle-Master of Hed, The Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind. And I mean that literally - Riddle-Master came out the spring I was in either 7th or 8th grade.

Riddle-Master ends on a serious cliff-hanger. I wrote Ms McKillip a letter asking if there was going to be more story, and got a note back. I've been using it as the bookmark in my copy ever since.

I bought all three - Heir & Harpist as they came out, sight unseen. They were the first hard-cover books I bought with my own money.

[nancymcc.livejournal.com]

I have a favorite jigsaw puzzle artist. That may sound strange, but I love illustrated (rather than photographic) puzzles with many tiny details. In early adulthood I realized that several puzzles I'd bought at Hallmark stores had the same tiny signature. I figured I could make a collection that was safe to be completist about (safe in terms of storage space).

His name is Robert Blair Martin and I searched for him on the web about five years ago. I found a puzzle discussion thread where someone claimed to know him. So I sent that someone a fan letter to be forwarded, please. About a week later I got a nice acknowledgement!

I told him that he influenced my choice of second career (graphic artist).

Thank you for reminding me of that pleasant experience (and to check the web again... oh, look, someone has a Springbok puzzle database... I'm all over it).

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I write to authors occasionally. I think they've almost all responded, except for a few of the ones I randomly e-mailed to hit them up to blurb my book.

The most memorable one was probably when I emailed Augusten Burroughs after reading Running with Scissors. I had meant to just tell him how much I liked his book, but I ended up giving him a brief account of my own bizarre childhood. He wrote back and told me to write a book about it... and I did... and that was my first book.

I got to know Sean Stewart because I wrote him a fan letter. He replied, we corresponded on and off, and we've had lunch a couple times when he stops by LA. That's pretty cool-- he's a great guy.

I think every author I've written too has been very cool, actually. I think the last person I wrote to was Michael Ruhlman, to praise his book Soul of a Chef. (I decided that since I'd read it about ten times, he really ought to know.) He wrote me a very nice letter in reply.