Eosin the Red said:
As a side note....I have yet to pick up anything by Barendur so I cannot comment. The Mouse of the dark (Mouseferatu) has gotten a few of my $ and it was money well spent.
BotR rocked......Loeb needs to write more.
And the Mouse appreciates it.
For my own tastes, I tend to pick up books based almost solely on topic, so I don't have many "must-buy" authors. But a few people do truly stand out...
Gareth Hanrahan. (I liked his work on Sorcery & Steam so much, I went out and convinced one of my employers to let me hire him on to a project I'm developing.)
Mike Mearls. (Duh.)
Some might think it inappropriate for me to say C.A. Suleiman, since we work together more often than not. But then, if I didn't like his stuff, I wouldn't work with him.
Bruce Baugh. He's World of Darkness more'n D20, but I've yet to see him produce something I dislike.
Mike Gill. I think he's only done Scarred Lands stuff to date (not that there's anything wrong with that), but I'd love to see him branch out.
And I'm absolutely positive I'm forgetting some. I'd do a lot better if you asked me which freelancers I liked working with; I have a hard time remembering who wrote what, and I'm trying (as requested) not to cheat and go through my bookshelf.