Though I don’t often mention it, I’m a bit of a bibliophile. A good book can easily drag me away from the Internet or a fun computer game (even Skyrim). So I was rather tickled last week to see Jennie Breeden mention in The Devil’s Panties a book from contemporary fantasy author Ilona Andrews, whose books I’ve been reading for around a year now. Well, it appears that Ilona Andrews and Tamora Pierce (another author whom Breeden follows) responded to Breeden’s homage comic in the discussion thread below the comic. Amusingly, they posted a little bit after I left my own comments in the discussion thread, so I was quite unaware of their comments until Friday’s comic.

As a brief aside (and plug for a series I rather enjoy), this was also when I found out that Andrews was offering a novella she wrote, “Magic Gifts,” for free from her website for viewing on different e-readers (including the Kindle, Nook, and any other e-reader that can handle ePub files). Due to agreements with publishers, it is only available for a limited time (and will no longer be available after January 6, 2012). And I have to say that the book is well worth acquiring (and the series is worth reading if you’ve not read Andrews’ line of contemporary fantasy novels yet; excerpts of her other novels can be found here).

One of the things I enjoy about the Kate Daniels books is the humor inherent in them; the heroine has a sardonic sense of humor and snarkiness that works quite well and is sure to amuse readers. Sadly, it’s an aspect of these books that might have been missed in Breeden’s mention of the books (which she makes sound more like dark fantasy romance rather than contemporary fantasy… though I must admit the latest book of the Kate Daniels line does come awfully close to that border). Outside of that one quibble, I can well imagine just how thrilled Breeden must have felt to hear from not one, but two of her favorite authors (as I’ve had opportunity to talk to a couple favorite authors of mine over the years) in response to what was likely a one-shot comic. And it says something about these authors that they not only enjoy webcomics… but will respond to fans on a comic discussion board.