I really mean author/writer/poet. Past or present. Dead or alive.
If you glance over at my Bookish Bucket List you’ll see that there are a few authors I want to meet. It’s a nice little list of different authors, but there’s one I’d like to meet over all the rest. I talked about him yesterday. Robert B. Parker.
He’s influenced the entire genre that is detective fiction. I can see bits of his characters and style in most detective stories I read. And I’ve read interviews from bestselling authors of today who admit that their detectives were heavily influenced by Spenser. Parker shaped the modern detective story like no one else has.
But the thing is that I wouldn’t want to pick his brain about his characters or stories or any of that stuff. I’d just want to have a conversation with him. About anything. I might ask him about his family. Or about why he started writing in the first place. Or what he viewed as his single greatest accomplishment, writing-related or otherwise. I’d simply want to get to know the man behind one of the great characters of the last fifty years. But at no point would I ask for writing advice, because he’s more than just an author to me. He managed to influence me without ever knowing it in many more things besides my own writing.
What about you? If you could meet one writer/author/poet from any period, who would it be?
On this day in 2014 I published Listen While you…Write?.
Contemporary Author: Neil Gaiman
Poet (well, master of lyrics): Maynard James Keenan (preferably at his vineyard,where we would drink wine and talk about ALL THE THINGS)
Historical Author: Too many to list, but probably at the top would be Louisa May Alcott and Geoffrey Chaucer.
I know, that’s more than one. But I don’t follow rules.
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Ha! I think Chaucer would be an excellent person to talk to. No idea about any of the others.
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Yeah, I’m showing my age… Well, first off, abandon your “I don’t take reading suggestions” rule and go pick up something written by Neil Gaiman. Because you’re seriously missing out. Then… ok, depends on your musical tastes, I guess… but find yourself a copy of any of Tool’s albums. Listen. Read the lyrics. Amazing stuff. Truly. They started off in ’92 with an album titled Opiate. They’ve only made 5 albums in 23 years. Why? Because they feel they need to grow as people before they can contribute anything meaningful, musically speaking. And lastly, you never had to read Little Women? I thought that novel was forced upon everyone in school. LOL
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Haha no. I’ve gone this long without ever reading any of his work. Not interested. And they don’t sound country so I probably won’t like them.
And nope. Never read that. Was never forced to, either.
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LOL no, Tool is as far from Country as you can get… Progressive Metal. Maynard does wear a cowboy hat fairly often. That count?
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Oh no. It doesn’t count and I won’t be listening to them. Lol
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Author Roald Dahl in his shed. Share a bar or two of chocolate. I would ask just how short his pencils became before he threw them away.
All the best …
Kris
http://www.awritersden.wordpress.com
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Hm. Did he like chocolate or something? Or is that referencing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?
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‘re. Ronald Dahl: He just loved chocolate and was an authority on the subject.Name a brand and he would tell you the years it was first produced.
Kris
http://www.awritersden.wordpress.com
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Oh wow. Fun fact.
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I’d choose to meet Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald, but separately so that their toxic relationship wouldn’t sully our meeting.
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Hmm. I’ve read about them. I don’t think I’d want to meet them together, either.
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Ralph Waldo Emerson. No other writer has left such an enormous impression on me.
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Tell me something he’s written. Cause I don’t know anything.
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“Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist. He who would gather immortal palms must not be hindered by the name of goodness. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself and you shall have the sufferage of the world.
— Essays, Series I (Self-Reliance)”
More here: http://www.rwe.org
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http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Sui-Generis/Emerson/quotes.htm
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Rick Riordan
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He writes the Percy Jackson series, right?
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I’d like to meet George Orwell – I researched him for my dissertation and he had a very exciting life and was very brave. I’d also like to meet Derek Landy, author of Skulduggery Pleasant, because that guy is hilarious.
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J.R.R. Tolkien. No question. He created one of the most intricate fantasy universes in literary history. Plus, he invented about a dozen new languages! GAH! Yeah… he’s my literary hero, for sure.
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Hm. I think he’d have a line of people stretching for miles. But a nice choice.
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Oh, I’m sure I’d be number 129,684 in line, but I’d wait a LONG time to meet him.
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Eh. I wouldn’t. There’d probably be a bunch of crazies dressed like Gandalf. 😂
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L. Ron Hubbard. Not for starting Scientology although that deserves a smack in the head but for writing the book that spawned the movie Battlefield Earth. A swift kick in the nutsack to him.
Hmmm, as soon as it’s over Callaghan regrets his impulsive choice and wishes he could have had a chat with Stephen King.
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Hahaha the question isn’t, “If you could meet one author to give a nice kick, who would it be?” Stephen King would laugh you out of the room.
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I would give him tips on how to sell books. He would adopt me out of gratitude.
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Would you now? He definitely needs help in that department. Adopt you? And your wife would just say okay? 😂
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He would have to adopt her as well. Of course.
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And Gerard. He’s just adopting everyone. What about me? Am I good enough?
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I’ll ask.
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And?
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You’re in. But you have to share a room with Gerard.
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Does he snore?
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Hahaha. No. I don’t think so. But I guess you’ll find out. 😜
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I can’t be in the same room as someone who snores. It might get ugly.
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You shall not put rough hands on my manservent.
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He better not snore.
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Gotta go with Salinger or Yeats!
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I only know one work by either of them. 😳
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Has to be Hemingway.
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Ooh. Very nice choice.
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Terry Pratchett, although I think I might get too tongue tied to say anything, feel like a fool and wish I’d just kept to worshipping from afar.
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Ha. Kind of happened to me when I met Steve Hamilton. But I still got a picture.
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That’s the main thing 😀
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Yep.
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I would definately like to meet Edgard Allan Poe. Im in love with his stories and poetry, and i just love his style of writing. he has influenced so many other genres than the one he writes. he touched every part of your feelings!
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I’ve only read like one or two poems he wrote. 😳
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Well, edgard allan poe’s short stories and poetry are a little difficult to read. You need a lot of patience to get through a single piece of writing. I do encourage you to read some more, since you’re already familiar with his works. Some will just leave you wondering.
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Hm. Maybe I will.
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[…] If you Could Meet one Author, who Would it be? […]
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