Ten Authors

Out of left field, a list of 10 authors whose work I will buy without even reading a review or back cover... presented in no particular order.

1) Neil Gaiman: my loyalty to Sandman and, more recently, The Graveyard Book, is such that I will read anything else he writes. I will also watch any movie that has any relationship to him
2) Patricia McKillip: I can't remember the last non-brilliant book she wrote. Alphabet of Thorn and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld still top my read-again-when-sick-or-sad list.
3) Robin McKinley: I wish we could clone her to get more books out of her brain. Sunshine was brilliant. I still hand The Hero and the Crown to teenagers every year.
4) J. D. Robb: note that I do NOT read Nora Roberts on a regular basis. However, I can't get enough of the tales about Eve Dallas and her unit. I read the entire series this summer. Good thing the woman is so prolific!
5) Donald Kingsbury: I believe he's only written three novels, but two of them are still sentimental favorites of mine: Geta (Courtship Rites in the USA) and The Moon Goddess and the Son
6) Barry Hughart: I don't know what happened to him after Bridge of Birds and its two sequels, but I'll buy his books if he ever gets back into publishing.
7) Lois McMaster Bujold: I named one of my kids after a character of hers. My husband and I bonded, while dating, over our love of her novels. Once again, I wish we could clone her to get more volumes out of her. Start with either Komarr or Curse of Chalion if you haven't read her already.
8) Connie Willis: I hear we're finally getting the next of her time-travel books out in the winter. To Say Nothing of the Dog is one of my all-time favorites, so I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.
9) Sherri S. Tepper: I have a love-hate relationship with a lot of her books. They aren't easy reading, and some of them make no logical sense (Six Moon Dance, I am looking at you here) but the writing and the themes are so compelling that they stay with me. My favorites are Raising the Stones and Northshore/Southshore.
10) Terry Pratchett: He says that he is almost done with publishing as his illness gets worse. I will treasure any last volumes he can churn out before the inevitable end. Start with Guards! Guards! but read everything of his.