Authors you'd most like to lunch with

Another topic of discussion from last year: maybe you're having a fine meal al fresco with a bottle of rosé, maybe it's the pub grub in a bustling local hotel, maybe it's a curry buffet, but it's you and an author or two of your choosing . . . so who is there with you?

Go. Discuss. Have lunch.

Stephen Fry, without a question. I love his way of writing so much, he is so intelligent and I'd enjoy his company like no other author's over a good lunch.

JK Rowling, absolutely. Even if I have time for is to thank her, and not pick her brain or tell her how much I love such and such character or beg her to tell me what she's working on.

All I want to do is say Thank You... is that too much to ask?

JK Rowling and have some very interesting debates about certain aspects of characters as well as thanking her for changing my life.

Tes Gerritsen who gave me some brilliant books as well as creating Jane & Maura, whom I have come to love so much.

Dan Brown because I would love to pick his brain over how he wrote The Da Vinci Code etc and what his own visions are on the groups he described in his books.

Stephen King because he is a legend. Nuff said.

Neil Gaiman, because he is awesome.

Terry Pratchett, because he is funny.

Patrick Rothfuss, because he is sweet.

Easy. Rachel Vincent and Tara Moss. Rachel because her books are just awesome, and Tara because of all the awesome things she's done in the name of research.

C.S. Lewis. No question. I love his writing. And if Mere Christianity is at all faithful to the way he spoke (since it started as a series of lectures), then I love his speaking style as well. I suppose the rest of the Inklings could come, too, but mostly I'd want to hang out with Jack. :)

Oh, so many.

JRR Tolkien, first off. He's amazing, and while his super-descriptive writing style puts some people off, that's what I love for. Being able to talk with the man and actually find out how he was able to bring all of his writings to such a wonderful point. That, and I'd love to hear about what the publishing world was like when he was publishing.

CS Lewis. His Space Trilogy is one of the series that really got me hooked on the fantasy genre. And yes, I do firmly believe that the Space Trilogy are more fantasy than science fiction. :)

RA Salvatore. The man's a genius. He's created what probably is my favorite group of fantasy heroes ever, and the way he writes just brings them to life in such a way that, while I'm reading, sometimes I feel like I could look up and Regis or Drizzt himself were standing in my room. Authors that can bring out that kind of reaction in me definitely have something special.

Walter Farley. He was my absolute favorite as a kid. Before I learned that the world was more than horses, I only read horse books, and his Black Stallion novels were at the top of my shelf. I still have my entire collection of them (which I gathered obsessively for years) and I still fondly think of them.

and, for my last author, Edgar Allan Poe. I'd give so much to be able to find out just how the man was able to write so... captaivatingly. I admit, when I first read "The Tell-Tale Heart" I hated it, but upon re-reading and study, of that one and other stories and poems, I came to realize he was a psychological genius. I'd love to know his tips on how to write so convincingly.

<3

Stephen King.
John Connolly.
Tana French.
Bret Easton Ellis.
Neil Gaiman.
Dan Wells.

Each of these authors are amazing in their own way, and I would love the get the chance to pick any of their brains.

Jack Vance. While I've written and told stories for as long as I can remember, Vance is the author who really made me fall in love with the craft of storytelling. Also, the worlds that he creates are fascinating and strange in ways that are always amazing. Also, his sheer breadth of writing is amazing.

Lois MacMaster Bujold. I love her Vorkosigan Saga, and the fact that she has managed to maintain a series that has gone on so long and still holds my interest. I would want to hear about how she works with characters.

Steven Brust. For pretty much the same reasons as Bujold, but translated on the Taltos series. Also, I love his humor and the way he handles the science fantasy.

I could probably make the list go on and on, but those are probably my big three.

Adrien Etienne

Chuck Palahniuk. The man is a genius, and I'd like to love his brain forever.

Bret Easton Ellis.

And Thomas Hardy. Oh wait.

There are so many I'd love to have lunch with! But at the moment, I think my friend and I would love to sit down with Jonathan L. Howard. We've been having a fanfic prompt war with the Johannes Cabal series and have now grown quite afraid of if he actually reads some of them, since he posts some other fanstuff on his twitter.

Then again, always gotta love Rowling and Gaiman, and I would love to sit down with Conan-Doyle!

J.K. Rowling
(This one's more like an "If any of the other 3 aren't available",) Stephenie Meyer
Edgar Allen Poe
Laurie Halse Anderson

Alive: Neil Gaiman, Christopher Paolini, or Gregory Maguire

Dead: Douglas Adams (because he is EPIC)

I swear I responded to this. Did the interent get hungry?

Rachel Hawkins because she's hilarious and would be game for shenanigans.
Matt de la Pena, preferably during college hoop season. I like to tweet basketball with him so I imagine talking basketball would be fun as well. Can lunch be a hotdog at a University of Kentucky game?
Melina Marchetta who surely I would just gape at.
Libba Bray because she is also hilarious.

And many many more that I follow on twitter.

Edgar Allen Poe
H.P. Lovecraft
Bram Stoker

Catherynne M. Valente <3

Oh oh and J.K. Rowling!

Terry Pratchett: I have so much admiration to the man for keeping Discworld going for almost 30 years and counting, all by himself, even as he starts succumbing to Alzheimer's.

Frank Herbert: Dune was a huge breath of fresh air after suffering through Lost, to find a mysterious society who insist they're the good guys while doing all kinds of despicable things, and actually get properly called out on that. Sadly, reading between the lines it seems he was incredibly homophobic, but unlike the likes of Orson Scott Card he was mostly able to keep it out of his work, at least.

Alexander Dumas: We share a birthday. My favorite of the July 24th club.

Douglas Adams and/or Terry Pratchett: Because there is just so much comic brilliance there.
Tolkien: Because he's Tolkien, and I'd love to see what made that mind of his tick.
C.S. Lewis: Because he defined apologetics for an entire generation of Christianity, which is quite the feat. And the man had a brilliant sense of humor. And he was a Medievalist, which is one of my favorite periods of history ever.
Tamora Pierce: Because I'd love to thank her for spelling my name right, and writing the books that got me through high school half-sane.
Sara Dessen: Because I loved her writing so much I wrote my senior paper on her books, and from everything I've read, she sounds like a really cool person to hang out with.

Scott Westerfeld
Mo Willems
Neil Gaiman
Mary Roach
Matthew Pearl
Terry Pratchett
Simon R. Green
Billy Collins

I feel a little schizophrenic with that list, but those are probably the people whose writings have had the biggest impact on me in recent years.