As mentioned at the end of January, I’m focusing on female authors for the entire month of February, as my book group Dragons & Jetpacks has declared it ‘Women Writers Month’. I thought I’d start off by discussing my favourite female authors, and I’d love to hear yours!
Diana Gabaldon
My current lady of the moment is Diana Gabaldon, author of the fantastic Outlander series. If you’re into historical fiction, give it a try (or give the show a watch, totally worth it just for Sam Heughan alone, not to mention the beautiful Catriona Balfe and the gorgeous Scottish landscapes). Diana: thank you SO MUCH for creating the beautiful Scotsman that is Jamie Fraser.
J.K. Rowling
Do I really need to explain this one? J.K. Rowling is my queen and shaped my childhood, forever.
Sarah J. Maas
Sarah J. Maas is another female author I love, although I’ve only read one of her series – Throne of Glass. I met her in 2013 and she was the sweetest. She brought her own copy of Throne of Glass for fans to sign, and it travelled all over the world. It was pretty cool being able to sign something that my fellow bloggers had also signed!
Jaine Fenn
I’m going to make a mention of Jaine Fenn, who is truly lovely. She writes science fiction, and I first came into contact with her in 2013. She took part in my Sci-Fi Month event with an author interview, and I’ve met her twice now, both times at Bristolcon (where I was very shy because I actually don’t know how to act around authors…). She recognised my name instantly, thanked me for my review of her recent short story she’d sent me, and mentioned she had a new release coming and would I like to review it. Basically, she knows how to interact with her fanbase very well. Her sci-fi series is a mix of books to be read in order, and others that can be read as standalones within the same universe.
Marianne Curley & Katherine Roberts
Marianne Curley and Katherine Roberts cannot be forgotten! Both of these ladies write fantasy for younger audiences, and wrote some of my favourite books as a child/teen. And both of them took time out of their busy schedules to let me interview them for my blog. Like Jaine, they are lovely people and know how to treat their fans 🙂 Marianne has written the Guardians of Time series which involves time travel (yaaaas) and Katherine has written several series, my favourite being the Echorium Sequence, where words and song are power.
And because this post will be an entire novel if I write a paragraph about every awesome lady, honourable mentions go to…
Kristin Cashore, S.J. Kincaid, Suzanne Collins, Laini Taylor, V.E. Schwab and Rhonda Mason.
Rinn Reads 
You have some fab women on this list! I love Sarah J Maas! For some reason, she’s the only fantasy author I can read and enjoy. I think it’s because she writes amazing characters and the stories are dark and considerably gorey, which is definitely right up my alley!
My top two favorite authors are female. Jenny Han and Stephanie Perkins. I just love their books so much! I reread at least one each year.
Oh really? Who else have you tried? I wonder if I could find you some recommendations… 🙂
I’m familiar with half of the authors you’ve listed, and only recently discovered Sarah J. Maas thanks to joining into your re-read. I’m about halfway through the second book and really enjoying it. I love J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter series, but I haven’t tried any of her Galbraith novels yet. I did pick up The Cuckoo’s Calling so that should change soon. I’m looking forward to trying the others you’ve listed.
There are a lot of other female authors I’ve enjoyed over the years. Just to name a few favorites I’ll mention Robin Hobb, C.J. Cherryh, Lois McMaster Bujold, Cherie Priest, and perhaps my favorite…Margaret Atwood. Her books always give my mind lots of ideas to ponder and play around with.
I’m glad you discovered her, and thanks for joining with the re-read/buddy read 😀 I still need to try the Galbraith novels too, I have the first one on my Kindle which means it’ll probably be a while or never get read…
I haven’t read any of those ladies (apart from Atwood), but I am definitely planning to. I didn’t get along with The Handmaid’s Tale but I want to read Oryx & Crake.
In addition to Gabaldon and Rowling, two favorites I would add are Margaret Atwood and Patricia Briggs. I also really like Rachel Bach (Rachel Aaron) for just fun reading. Also Naomi Novik. There are also a few women I’m looking forward to reading more of: Karen Lord, N.K. Jemisin, Monica Byrne, Rachel Hartman, Helene Wecker. I haven’t read Maas or Schwab yet but mean to!
I’m not sure if I’ve heard of Patricia Briggs… hmm. Rachel Bach’s Paradox series seems to have gotten such positive reviews and feedback from my book group, but I never managed to get round to it when it was our Book of the Month and now I keep forgetting.
Awww this is such a great idea 🙂 you have so many wonderful authors on here. Sarah J. Maas is definitely my favorite author of all time, she is the Queen of fiction in my mind, her writing is so beautiful! What a lovely post ^_^
Thanks 🙂 She really is wonderful, and such a lovely person too!
I adore J.K Rowling and Sarah J. Maas. After meeting Leigh Bardugo I’m a big fan of her as well, especially after the fabulous Six of Crows. I also love Cat Winters, Juliet Marillier and Mindy McGinnis!
I want Six of Crows so badly! And I remember reading about you meeting Leigh Bardugo, you went with Debby, right? It sounded so cool!