Follow Friday (3)

Q. Name 3 authors that you would love to sit down and spend an hour or a meal with just talking about either their books or get advice on writing from?

Wow.  That is a great question--very difficult.  Only three?  Can't we have more?  Okay guess not.

My first instinct was to say Margaret Mitchell because reading Gone With the Wind in middle school was one one of those experiences that stick out to me--where I remember my love of reading really growing.  I could feel it as the story drew me in.  I had such a literary crush on Rhett Butler (who looked just like Clark Gable in my mind).  But I am not going to pick her because I have done a lot of reading about her.  She was an intensely private person and I really do not think she would open up much.  Then I thought of Harper Lee because who was not affected by reading To Kill A Mockingbird?  But the same trouble arose.  I have read about her, and in some ways she was even more private than Margaret Mitchell.  Or at least she tried to be.

So after all of that thinking and back tracking, I decided I would pick Jane Austen, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Maria V. Snyder.  Now that is a list that does not come together often.


I first encountered Jane Austen when I watched the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice.  The movie enchanted me.  I fell in love with Mr. Darcy (who will always look like Colin Firth in my mind).  I fell in love with Elizabeth.  I was hooked.  I house sat for my aunt one weekend and I seriously watched this movie three times in that weekend.

Then I read the book, and I was hooked again.  I could not decide which one I loved more, but I often had to get my Pride and Prejudice fix in one way or another to the point that I practically have both memorized.  And I still love it.  

Now I know it can be argued that Jane Austen was also an intensely private person, but I feel like that was more about her personal life.  She seemed to love to talk about her books and her writing, and what I would love to talk about is what inspired her characters because I think in many ways she created some of the most memorable characters in literature.

I do not tend to think of myself as a huge fan of crime novels, although I noticed that recently a lot of my reviews have fallen into that category.  But I think that is due in part to the fact that a good friend of mine recently turned me onto Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes.

I am currently working through his novels and stories one by one.  I have watched all of the Sherlock Holmes movies with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  I recently found a CD with the recording of the radio show with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  And my netflix is full of different British movies and TV shows featuring Sherlock Holmes (or in one case the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Bell).

I have read some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's history.  I know the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes was his mentor Dr. Bell.  What I would love to do is show Sir Arthur Conan Doyle some of the modern crime stories (real or fictional, television, movies or books) and ask What Would Sherlock Holmes do?  How would he adapt to modern tastes for crime drama?  Could he solve some of our criminal mysteries today?

I fell in love with Maria V. Snyder's work after reading the Poison Study series.  I do not have a large keeper shelf because I find that I do not re-read a lot of books.  But I could not bear to part with these books.  I have loaned them to everyone I know who likes to read, and each person has come back impressed.  These books really draw the reader in.  At least they did for me!

And what I really want to know is what/who was her inspiration for Valek and Yelena.  Okay--maybe a little more about Valek because he is a literary crush of mine.  I would also love to tell her that I want more of his story.  I found the short story online--and it was not nearly enough.  I want more.

I have also started collecting her other series so I can read them all--and I have not been disappointed once.  I love the way she draws the reader into the story.  And I would love to talk to her about her experience as a writer and learn more about the craft of writing from her.
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