We’ve all heard the question before: if you could have dinner with any five people, who would they be? Well, today I’m asking that same question, but with a small twist. If you could have dinner with any five authors – living or dead – who would they be?
At the top of my list is Elizabeth Peters, my “writing hero”, from whose creatively ingenious mind has sprung the Amelia Peabody series. If you haven’t read these books, you haven’t really lived. The series has everything – humor, thrills, romance, drama, suspense. Once you start the first one, you can’t stop.
Next, the late, great Blake Snyder, author of the “Save the Cat” books. His writing inspires me every time I open his books. I actually cried the day he died, and it still makes me sad to think about. Even if you don’t want to write screenplays, the books are awesome, and you’ll learn something about story and plotting. And they’re a great distraction, if you’re looking for a distraction.
D.P. Lyle would be on the guest list, too. I adore his books on forensics and use them all the time. I bought my dad his book “Forensics and Fiction”, which is full of letters from writers, asking forensics-related questions. My dad has no interest in writing, but the letters and answers are so interesting and fun, that he loves the book anyway. Awesome writer, and he’d be a hoot at a writer dinner. The topics of conversation might get a little gruesome, but it would be an amazing dinner, all the same.
I’d invite poet Jack Prelutsky, too. I love his fun poems, and I’d be interested to see what he’d come up with at the dinner, given the other probable topics. (I’m thinking something along the lines of, “Means, motive, opportunity, it’s murder in the first degree!”)
And I must admit that I’m torn for that last seat. I have some ideas, but I think I might leave it open for the time being. Who knows? Tomorrow, I may come across my new inspiration!
So, who would you invite to your writer's dream dinner?
Next, the late, great Blake Snyder, author of the “Save the Cat” books. His writing inspires me every time I open his books. I actually cried the day he died, and it still makes me sad to think about. Even if you don’t want to write screenplays, the books are awesome, and you’ll learn something about story and plotting. And they’re a great distraction, if you’re looking for a distraction.
D.P. Lyle would be on the guest list, too. I adore his books on forensics and use them all the time. I bought my dad his book “Forensics and Fiction”, which is full of letters from writers, asking forensics-related questions. My dad has no interest in writing, but the letters and answers are so interesting and fun, that he loves the book anyway. Awesome writer, and he’d be a hoot at a writer dinner. The topics of conversation might get a little gruesome, but it would be an amazing dinner, all the same.
I’d invite poet Jack Prelutsky, too. I love his fun poems, and I’d be interested to see what he’d come up with at the dinner, given the other probable topics. (I’m thinking something along the lines of, “Means, motive, opportunity, it’s murder in the first degree!”)
And I must admit that I’m torn for that last seat. I have some ideas, but I think I might leave it open for the time being. Who knows? Tomorrow, I may come across my new inspiration!
So, who would you invite to your writer's dream dinner?