It’s Top Ten Tuesday again, and this week’s topic from the girls at The Broke and The Bookish is causing me some dilemmas! It’s all about meeting authors: authors you want to meet, authors you can’t believe you have met, or some other topic along those lines.
Now, authors I want to meet? Well, how long have you got? Authors I can’t believe I’ve met? Well, that’s a grand total of one: Lord Jeffrey Archer. And that’s a story for another time… 😉
And of course, there’s nothing to say that these authors have to be currently living. And if that doesn’t just blow the whole topic wide open!
But here’s the thing. I love book blogging, and I love that I have been able to ‘meet’ some of my favourite authors online. How am I supposed to single out a handful of those authors for this list? *shakes head* I tried, but I just couldn’t do it. So here are some authors who have gone before, but whom I would loved to meet for various reasons.
Jane Austen
What self-respecting Regency lover wouldn’t have Jane Austen on their list?
Dame Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie was my first taste of crime fiction, and I was hooked! One of the first things I did when I signed up for eBay (too many years ago!) was to hunt down second-hand copies of the Agatha Christie Crime Collection hardback editions of her novels. I do so like the way they look on my shelf 🙂
Georgette Heyer
I love Heyer’s writing—her Regencies, her other historicals, AND her crime novels. She was a meticulous researcher in the days before computers and Google, keeping copious files and notes on all aspects of Regency life and the other historical events she wrote about. Apparently she recreated William the Conquerer’s crossing into England for her novel The Conquerer, and I read somewhere that her novel An Infamous Army contains such a detailed and accurate account of the Battle of Waterloo that it has actually been listed as recommended reading for military students. Now that’s my kind of writer!
C. S. Lewis
Does he really need any introduction? Not only the creator of Narnia, but an intellectual and a proponent of classical education. Oh, the things we could discuss!
L. M. Montgomery
True Confessions: When I was growing up, I wanted to be Anne. She captured my heart like no other character when I was a young girl. I wanted to dress like her, wear my hair like her, and meet my very own Gilbert… *sigh*
Dorothy L. Sayers
I have long been a fan of Lord Peter Wimsey, the aristocratic amateur detective she created, but Dorothy L. Sayers was also a champion of classical education, particularly the teaching of Latin, which I also happen to be quite passionate about.
William Shakespeare
Yes, I was one of those people who actually enjoyed studying Shakespeare at school. But secretly, I’m just hoping I get to dress in period-appropriate clothing when I meet him. And getting a bit of the low-down on the Tudors wouldn’t be bad, either. 😉
Mary Stewart
A friend introduced me to Mary Stewart’s novels when she found out that I loved romantic suspense, and I have been thanking her ever since. Not only does she write great suspense, but her descriptions—! Her novels are set in so many different locations—Corfu, Provence, Damascus, Austria, Skye—and she brings them to life so vividly. Ooh, now I’m itching to go and get one out!
J. R. R. Tolkien
Another man who needs no introduction! My first introduction to Tolkien was having The Hobbit read to me in Grade 6. Oh my, how I lived for that time just after recess when I could just close my eyes and be transported to Middle Earth. No matter how epic The Lord of the Rings may be, The Hobbit will always be my first Tolkien love! <3
Oscar Wilde
I’m not sure how much we would have in common, but I would love to sample some of his wit for myself.
Your turn! Which authors, past or present, would you most like to meet?
Perfect! Me too 🙂
🙂
I love your list…and Shakespeare definitely ranks high on mine (says the nerdy English teacher!). 🙂 Meeting Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street) was one of my favorite teacher moments. At the top of my list, however, is Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird). I met and visited with Debbie Macomber last year, She’s a hoot! — You mentioned you’ve met so many authors “online.” I love how the internet has made the reader/writer world so small!
Harper Lee would be a good one! The internet opens up a whole new world of friends, doesn’t it? 🙂
What a great list. My mind is whirling with names. Of course, Jane Austen…and YES to L.M. I’d also love to meet Anne Lamott, Nora Zeale Hurston, and even Hemingway (though he’d intimidate me!). I’ve also connected with Rachel McMillan online and think she’s such a hoot and would love to sit over coffee with her and have her show me around Toronto! 🙂
Oh, yes! There are so many authors and other bookish friends I’ve met online who I would love to sit down and have a face to face chat with. One day…!
Great list! 🙂
Thanks!
Hi!
This is a great blog post and I agree with many of your choices, especially Agatha Christie (my cat is named after her. That’s how much I adore her books) and Mary Stewart. And I love Mary Stewart’s writing so much that I blog about it! I am on holiday in France and have been posting photos of Avignon that tie in with places in Madam, Will You Talk? – totally agree with you that Mary Stewart’s settings are amazingly well written.
Possibly the only author I would choose differently from you is the children’s writer: I wanted to be George from the Famous Five so I suppose I’d have to choose Enid Blyton even though as an adult I have aome reservations about her…
Oh, wow! I’ll have to check out your blog! I loved ‘Madam, Will You Talk?’ My kids are right into Enid Blyton at the moment, too. My four-year-old daughter tells me she’s a boyish girl, like George 🙂 I think that’s just because she likes playing with her brothers outside!
If I can remember that far back, I think I liked George partly because she was rude and daring, totally unlike me… plus the only other girl was Anne who was always left with the washing up and claimed to enjoy it: I think most girls are ‘boyish’ compared to Anne!
They were polar opposites, weren’t they?!
Oh yes and I think Enid Blyton made clear to her female readers that thete was little fun in
Gah. That should have been ‘there’ and my point was going to be EB makes clear there is little fun in ‘keeping house’ and accepting traditional female role. Perhaps I can blame EB for my lack of domestic goddess skills 🙂