My Favorite Author is Rachel Higginson...Who's Yours?

 

How I Finally Chose My Favorite Author

I know I’ve mentioned this in a previous blog post, but it bears repeating that I LOVE to read! Being that I work for a local school district, I get two glorious months off during summer break! This summer, in between shuttling my kids to and fro, family vacations, weekend camping trips, fundraisers, youth girl’s camp, and everything else that comes up, I am desperately trying to get caught up on some of my reading. Unfortunately, I haven’t been doing a very good job of this yet, but I’m holding out hope that July will slow down enough for me to stop falling asleep while I try to read. In fact, I must confess that I had a pretty lively internal struggle before I sat down to write this blog post today. All my kids are gone for the next couple of hours, and my heart of hearts really just wanted to use this time to read my most current book, but I also knew that I needed to use this time to get this blog post finished. I argued with myself about it for a while, and clearly the blog post won, but I did make a compromise with myself and decided to write about reading! So…here we go!

Many of my friends and family know that I love to read, so I’m often asked who my favorite author is. A couple of years ago, I couldn’t answer that question because I had such a hard time picking a favorite author. No one really stood out to me above all others. Today, I have an answer to that question and she is going to be the topic of this blog post. 
 
Rachel Higginson is my favorite author! Most of you are probably wondering who that is, since none of her fabulous books have been turned into movies. At least not yet. So let me introduce you to her. Let’s be clear, I do not know her personally, although I do follow her on Facebook. 

 I stumbled upon Rachel Higginson about two years ago when I found a little gem called Love and Decay. It’s a novella series about love in the zombie apocalypse. Now, I know this sounds cheesy, but it is seriously some of the best writing I have ever read! The depth and humor in these books, is beyond me. Here’s a small example:  
 “Love is the strongest motivator of all, Reagan. Stronger than fear, stronger than hate, stronger than whatever else is out there. Love is more than enough to survive with; it’s enough to live with.” Rachel Higginson, Love and Decay, Volume One.

Rachel Higginson has a way of writing that reaches right into my soul. When her characters have their first kiss, it feels like I’m having my first kiss all over again, butterflies in the stomach and everything! I have read just about everything this woman writes, and I plan to continue. She doesn’t just write about zombies either. She writes about witches and warlocks and sirens, and real life stuff like grief and loss, divorce, and young love. All of it has been amazing. I particularly love that she writes strong female lead characters. Characters that struggle a lot, but use their strengths to overcome everything that is thrown at them. If you hated Bella Swan from Twilight as much as I did (an explanation for another blog perhaps) Rachel Higginson will not disappoint you! 
 
While I could continue to go on and on about her writing, let me tie this into today’s blog post. Not only is Rachel Higginson an amazing author, but she’s done it on her own, while having young children and taking care of a family. She’s amazing! Her Instagram quote says, “She believed she could, so she did.” Unknown.
 
 

Here is the inspirational story of her first self-published book.  It’s worth watching! I love how she followed her heart regardless of the current trends and I love how she didn’t give up even though it took her FOUR years to get her first book published and she had to publish it herself to do it! She hasn’t made the New York Times bestseller list yet, but whether or not she ever does, her books are amazing, her characters find their way into your soul, and her personal journey is something inspiring to watch. So today I say to all of you sparklers, my favorite author is Rachel Higginson, not just because is she an amazing writer, but because she Shimmers, Sparkles, and Shines! 
 
Who is your favorite author and why? 

Love, Alicia 



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