I collect mentors and role models all over the place. People I've met in person, like Pinny Gniwisch of Ice.com, and people I've met only on the internet like Jen Lemen or Scott Westerfeld. I think there are a lot of lessons to be learned from these folks and others, but Scott is the person I want to talk about today.

A Young Adult writer with 11 books published, Scott is also a blogger and public speaker. I've only read one of his books, So Yesterday, but after I read it, I started recommending it to people in the office. Why? So Yesterday is a mystery centered around two Cool Hunters in New York City and a plot to end consumerism.

Also because the story was strangely familiar... hmmmm... The Tipping Point! Scott brings to life the theories from Malcom Gladwell's article. "But Leah," you say, "it is a book." I can tell you that it brings to life the article because I asked Scott and he wrote me back.

I was shocked. I'd never had an author write me back before, but this was an author with a blog. Scott does an amazing job of cultivating relationships with his readers. They send him art based on his characters and he celebrates them. They leave him comments and he responds. They come to book readings and buy his book, he thanks them.

Scott is the real deal. I think we can learn a lot from him about conversations, building relationships with customers, letting customers control the brand and committing to social media. Scott also has an amazing imagination and one of the tech ideas he cooked up in So Yesterday have come to market.

What fiction writers do you consider role models?