When I was younger, I used to write author thank you letters. Unfortunately, I only remember a few responses, even worse, I only remember getting one handwritten reply:
Fred Mustard Stewart: Typed letter expressing my gratitude for the adventure his *The Magnificent Savages* book gave me, and he sent back a beautiful handwritten cursive note (more like a mini-letter) on cream-colored heavy stock. RIP man.
Stephen Coonts: Emailed him a thank you for some novel, and because he graciously replied back, I emailed him *again* telling him his *Flight of the Navigator* was my first real foray into adult-level reading. He didn’t take too kindly to my mistake—it’s supposed to be *Flight of the Intruder*, and I screwed up, but at least he replied. Still, he wasn’t impressed.
Michael Crichton: No idea how, but I managed to email him a thank you for a novel, he wrote back and all I can remember is he included the line, “I drink too much Coke, too.” 😂 (Apparently I had written to him about my love of the stuff.)
Robert Kurson: Emailed him a thank you for his book on pirates (and also *Rocket Men*), but also to ask about an update on the real-life cliffhanger ending (Pirates), and his response was wonderful… except he ruined the whole thing by soliciting that I leave what I’d written him as an Amazon review. Look man, I wrote that for *you*, not for the world.
by mysteryofthefieryeye