It’s that time of the week again: Top 10 Tuesday with The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s theme is Top 10 Authors you want to meet.
Seeing as I live in the backend of nowhere, I haven’t met a lot of big time or international authors. On the other hand, I have a bunch of Michigan author meetings. Regardless, most of the authors I really want to meet are dead, which is slightly more backend of nowhere than West Michigan.
Well duh |
I’m still waiting on the TARDIS, so while the Doctor is off saving the universe, I’ll just content myself with a list of living authors I want to meet.
If any of you have read previous top 10s of mine, you can probably name at least two of them. So I’ll start with one that is not Neil Gaiman or Robin McKinley (though their inclusion is inevitable):
1. Matthew Pearl
If you can’t actually time travel, there are a few authors that make you feel like you can. Matthew Pearl is one of them. I love his historical fiction. I’m reading The Last Bookaneer right now and it’s really good. I am so impressed with his ability to incorporate historical figures and events into his story without changing or contradicting them. The Dante Club is my favorite.
2. Erik Larson
Larson is Pearl’s nonfiction equivalent. Erik Larson writes about history like it’s a first-rate thriller, weaving events together in a way that only a master of research and words can do. With my keen interest in the past, I love any book that makes you feel there, and Larson’s books always do. I would love to learn about all of the things he’s researched for his books. (My favorite is Devil in the White City)
3. J. K. Rowling
Do I have to explain? Is there a reader/writer out there who wouldn’t like to pick Rowling’s brain? Frankly, I’d like to know more about her rejection letters, some of the responses she got from publishers, and why she kept plugging on. I know she’s under a lot of popular pressure now that she’s crazy famous, and it would be interesting to know if she ever misses anonymity.
This is an awesome Zelda cosplay, btw |
Naturally, my favorite is Harry Potter.
4. Marissa Meyer
5. Neil Gaiman
Awesome picture credit here |
I envy every one of you that lives in a major city, because you’ve probably had a chance to meet Neil Gaiman. Honestly, I’d rather have tea and chat with him than most authors. He is fabulous on the radio, so funny and engaging. I love his novels, and I would be honored to “talk shop” with him. But I’d settle for just meeting him and telling him what an impact his words have had on me (I’m sure that gets old, but what can you do?).
This picture is epic |
8. Susanna Clarke
Susanna Clarke, of course, wrote one of my all-time favorite novels, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. If no one has convinced you to read it, then read this lovely BBC article and reconsider. Susanna Clarke is funny and smart, well read, loves magicians, and is very interested in history. Why wouldn’t I want to meet her?
For more of his work click here |
9. D. M. Cornish
Though he is currently in between projects (I think), I love the layered world of Cornish’s Monster Blood Tattoo series.
In addition to writing a fantasy series with a rich world and fascinating characters, D. M. Cornish can draw. The series ( a bit like Oliver Twist with monster hunters and the moors of a Bronte novel) is completely illustrated by Cornish. Which is awesome.