Gosh, answering this presents a smorgasbord of choices and I can only pick five?? On the other hand, it’s like someone comes up to you on the street and says, “Tell me five of your favorite things in the world,” and suddenly you can’t think of a one. So… (tapping index finger against chin while deep in thought) who do I choose?
1. Margaret Mitchell: Who wouldn’t want to meet someone who came up with the line “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”? Mitchell wrote a soap opera about one of the worst times in American history and made us all want more. Then she dusted off her hands and didn’t give us more. That’s a woman who knew what she wanted to write and did it. End of story. Literally. (Shake turnip at sky and vow always to be hungry for more Gone with the Wind.)
2. Lauren Layne: I love her work! She writes some of the best dialogues and her characters are always interesting and multi-dimensional. I’d like to have coffee with her, and maybe a Danish? (A pastry, not a man.) And laugh. She seems like a person who would laugh a lot.
3. Agatha Christie: My mom was a great reader and loved Agatha Christie so I reaped the benefit of always having her books around the house to read with a good apple. Such staying power! She wrote really good mysteries (though not always fair mysteries—she did often make the killer someone no one knew about until the final chapter) and led a very interesting life. Once I wanted to be an archaeologist and I’d love to hear all about her journeys in that arena.
4. Jane Austen: Like most of the world’s female population, I too fell in love with Mr. Darcy. I was an adult when I first read Austen. I’m not sure I would have appreciated her humor and her take on the gender wars of her time if I’d read her in high school or maybe not even in college. I think she must have been quite interesting but I might have had to give her a shake if we’d met and yell, “Live a little for yourself, woman!” Doing so could have caused a stir in the Bath teahouse where we were enjoying crumpets and scones.
5. Henry Fielding: If for no other reason but than I loved Tom Jones (that eating scene was messy but still a bit sexy), I’d like to meet Fielding. But he also seems like a genuinely nice person. Learning about his times from his perspective would be a great experience.
Did you notice a food theme throughout? Time for dinner…
I consider myself truly fortunate to have met some fabulous authors when I became part of the Liquid Silver Publishing group. I wrote a book (Resolutions) with three of them: Leigh Wyndfield, Jasmine Haynes (for erotic romance, Jennifer Skully for the sweeter stuff), and Vanessa Hart (for erotic romance, Cheryl Norman for the sweeter stuff). Terri Schaeffer is also a friend from LSB, and another Terri, Terri Olson, I met later on. All of these ladies are smart, interesting, and some of the most fabulous writers ever. I’m so lucky to be among their colleagues!
Check out the next post in this blog hop.
Thanks!
Dee
Coming soon: Naval Maneuvers from Black Velvet Seductions
Back in college, I tried to read Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones. It took me two tries–and I had to see the movie first before understanding that it was funny. I was often too serious back in college.
Holly, sadly, I wasn’t serious enough back in college. 😉 Hey! A C average isn’t too bad…is it? As far as the movie, I loved it, too. When Albert Finney peered out from behind that tree, OMG! Those eyes.