WCW: Maureen Johnson

I read 13 Little Blue Envelopes sometime during high school--I can't quite remember when. And I loved it. I pushed it on my friends. I sought out other books by the author. The other books were also amazing (The Bermudez Triangle, Suite Scarlett, The Key to the Golden Firebird). Then I started following Johnson on twitter, and oh my gosh, a whole new world.

Maureen Johnson is an incredible person. She's witty and hilarious and just generally over all wonderful. She seems to have a lot of bad things happen (She's been in and out of the hospital for like a year including the same surgery two times), but she's delightfully optimistic about it all. It's occasionally hard to tell if she's actually optimistic or if her sense of humor is so sarcastic that it's actually a whole new level, but she usually seems genuine about her bright outlook.

Her first book was published in 2004, and since then she's had eleven books published so-far as well as been a contributor to four anthologies and a collection of short stories on Magnus Bane. Currently, I'm anxiously waiting for February 10th and the release of The Shadow Cabinet -- the third book in her Shades of London series. And if you have it preordered (as I have) from one of these independent bookstores, you get sweet bookish swag with it.

So do yourself a favor and check out a few of MJ's books, and follow her on Twitter. You won't regret it.