This week at NON, Diana Rowland mentioned that she got to chat with Anne McCaffrey, one of her favorite authors, and it got me thinking (and asking this question of the contest entrants): which author would I like to chat with?
Anne McCaffrey is a good answer for me, as well. I read everything she wrote, both about Pern and her straight fiction.* I discovered her writing when I was in my early teens, and I didn't stop reading her works until she retired and her son took over—not because I don't like Todd, I just haven't given him a chance yet. McCaffrey was a pioneer for modern-day fantasy and science fiction, and she had a huge impact on my writing. In fact, one of "my" first stories was inspired by her (in which I basically stole the setting, characters, concept, and basic plot lines—fan fic at its worst).
However, the first author that leapt to mind was Robert Jordan. I missed my opportunity, since he's already passed away. Nevertheless, I would love to understand his process, the way his mind worked (more left or right brained?), hear the stories of things that inspired him, and learn all the plot twists that surprised him or that turned out different than he planned.
*All this reminiscing reminded me of a fact I read years ago on McCaffrey's website that Pern was going to become a TV show in Australia. I did a little sleuthing and it looks like that deal fell flat. Ronald D. Moore of Battlestar Galactica, later actually got as far as the pilot of a show, but that fell through, too. Most recently, it was optioned as a film to a Canadian company that doesn't appear to have done much—nothing of note in general, and nothing with McCaffrey's work since 2006 when the rights were first purchased. Sigh.
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