This idea of meeting with a few authors over a meal and having a conversation with them is something I have discussed before, and it was fun to consider. I have, therefore, decided to cover this scenario again. I was thinking about with whom I would like to dine and with whom I would enjoy having a conversation, among authors, both living and dead. Obviously, for the sake of this idea, if an author is dead, he/she will be resuscitated for the meal and conversation.
I consider myself an author of speculative fiction, which can encompass many genres, but one of my areas in writing, in teaching, and in study is Gothic/Horror. Two of my novels, Maledicus: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 1 and Gallows Hill: The Investigative Paranormal Society Book 2 are both of the Horror and Gothic genres. I will be adding to this series, and I have already written the first draft of two other horror novels. Horror and Gothic have interested me since I was a youngster, and it will the rest of my life.
I would like, therefore, to have a meal with 3 masters of this field: Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and Bram Stoker. I think this would be an enlightening, provoking, stimulating, and lively conversation. I would raise a glass with them and toast to their enduring brilliance.
My question, then, to all of you is this: with what three authors would you like to have a meal and conversation?
Gallows Hill can be found here in ebook.
Gallows Hill in paperback can be found here.
An interview about Gallows Hill can be found here.
Please follow the following links to find my novel:
Thank you!
The book trailer:
Maledicus:Investigative Paranormal Society Book I
My radio interview:
I’d like to share a meal with Beverly Cleary, Judy Blume and Barbara Park. Children have loved their books for years, and I would enjoy having them all in one place to discuss their secrets to the success of reaching young people through their writing!
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Wonderful choices!
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I’ll cook…..
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Thank you!
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Although I write fantasy, my first author would be Jane Austen (just because I’ve always adored her work), but I’d fall back on two fantasy authors and say Jim Butcher and Terry Goodkind for the other two.
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Wonderful choices!
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My favourite genres are classic, fantasy, and young adult. So, the 3 authors that I would love to dine with are J.R.R. Tolkien, J.k. Rowling, and Charlotte Bronte.
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That would make for an excellent dinner conversation!
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Stephen King, James Baldwin and Oprah Winfrey.
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That would be lively!
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Plato, Dion Fortune and John the Evangelist… I have questions 😉
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I would love to know your questions.
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Let’s just say I’d want a more detailed answer than 42…
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!!!
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I’d definitely invite Charlotte Bronte. I’d be tempted to invite Jane Austen but I’m worried those two would get into a fight so my other two would be Kim Newman and Neil Gaiman.
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They would all be excellent choices!
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Mine would be Sylvia Plath, Roald Dahl, Terry Pratchett, and Mark Z. Danielewski so many more but those for now lol
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Excellent choices!
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Well of course I would have to pick Stephen King, don’t flip over his politics but most of his books are outstanding. In this category I would also include Poe, and then Dean Koontz.
For another dinner I’d like Mark Twain, James Michener and John Toland.
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They would make for excellent dinner conversations!
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As a fantasy and sometimes SF author, I’d love to sit down and chat over a meal with those people who made me fall in love with the genres: Ursula K LeGuin, author of the Earthsea trilogy that was my introduction to fantasy. I watched a few of her lectures when she died around this time last year – what an amazing intellect. I also read many of her SF novels, which made me realise you could successfully write in both genres.
Frank Herbert would be my second choice – the awesome world building of DUNE absolutely blew me away, and was my first serious SF read. His imagination was both weird and vast.
Finally, a live one – Neil Gaiman, another intellectual and visionary of both genres, plus a wonderfully entertaining speaker.
My only reservation is, I don’t think one meal would be anywhere near enough!
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But it would be a beginning!
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great choices. i’d choose – kate chopin, david sedaris, and pat conroy, and if i could throw in an animator – gary larson (far side). and if i could add one more – bill bryson….. here i go –
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That would be a wonderful party!
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It was a tough choice. In the end I went for Mary Shelley, Emily Bronte, and Virginia Woolf. Three interesting perspectives. I like their work, though they are not necessarily my most favourite writers, but I would be interested to hear what they say about writing and being women who write.
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Joanne, they are wonderful choices!
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For me, I would love to have a meal and conversation with Anne Rice because I love her take on vampires and the supernatural. I love Edgar Allan Poe as well, so he’d definitely be part of the dinner party. And the late, great Umberto Eco, because The Name of the Rose is my favorite book of all time and I would love to pick his superior brain. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to cook for them as well?
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This would be delightful!
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So many authors I wish I could sit down with and have a conversation. But from your list, Poe is the one that intrigues me most.
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It would be fascinating talk!
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Reblogged this on Where Genres Collide.
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Thank you!
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You’re welcome, Charles!
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I am so glad you are revisiting this series, Charles. I always thought it was one of your best. Will you be interviewing each of the three authors you posted with questions and conversations you would wish to have? Looking forward to that if you do.
I would like to have a meal and conversation with Dr. Seuss, and here is why: in the 50’s when his ‘I Can Read’ books were first introduced, this was a big shift from the Dick and Jane books. Some progressive schools adopted the Dr. Seuss books to teach reading. I was a poor reader, and I know I would have been the child to learn to read with the rhyming and repetition of Dr. Seuss.
I would also like to have a meal and conversation with Kate DiCamillo and with Beverly Cleary. Can you believe she is 100?! And can I also add JK Rowling?
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Jennie, yes you certainly may! That would be a wonderful conversation!
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Indeed!
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I love scenarios like this. Brilliant! There are too many writers to name and I would be tempted to throw multiple parties. But for now my three would be Poe, Bukowski, and Tolkien. Poe drew me to Gothic horror and the short story. Bukowski because he’s a poet, a drunk, and a dreamer. That’s a must have at any party. Last but not least Tolkien, because his imagination took him to new worlds, and new languages.
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Wow! What a group that is.
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JK Rowling (to find out when we can expect an autobiography and to hear how she became such a marketing-savvy wizard); China Mieville (to find out when we can expect a Literary Critical work on the Horror genre from HIM); and Charles DeLint (to find out why we don’t see so much writing from him anymore, as I am going through urban fairytale withdrawal without him!)
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What a wonderful gathering that would be!
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Johnathan Swift, Ruth Gruber and Emma Goldman. I bring the wine as it is excellent here.
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That sounds wonderful!
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Agreed! Of course, one can think of a number of others but I prefer one-on-one or a very small circle…
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My three would be Charlotte Bronte, Emile Zola and Stephen King – there would be plenty of discussion for sure!
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Yes, it certainly would be!
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