Allie posted her top ten authors she'd love to meet. I got so inspired and thought I would, too!
1. Louisa May Alcott - Oh, we'd have a jolly good time. Sharing stories about sisters, growing up in New England, money struggles, the Civil War, the whole thing. She got a bit grumpy towards her fans at the end, but I know I'd bring out her funny side. We'd be great friends, kindred spirits and keep each other laughing.
2. Jane Austen - Similarly funny, but in a different way. She was a bit more zingy and ironic, with a sparkle in her eyes as she gossiped about the ladies and gents in her life. Would love to have a cup of tea and tell her how much I admire her for making parlor conversations page-turning.
3. Mark Twain - Can you tell I love Sagittarius authors? Oh, he would be so funny, too. We'd swap travel stories, since he was restless and went everywhere, and chat about boyish pranks and his amazingly gorgeous house in Hartford, Connecticut.
4. Henry David Thoreau - One of the most influential writers I've encountered, and quite off the beaten path. He'd be spiritual and practical at the same time, so fascinating and so quirky. We'd talk about the modern environmental movement, both scorn materialism, and I'd tell him how much nature has taught me personally. A fascinating man.
5. John Keats - the poetic soul, so young and so gifted. Just to be in the same room with him would be extraordinary, let alone hear him talk about ... anything, really. I'd go all fangirl, blushing and doing my best to be quiet and let his observations guide the conversation.
6. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - I feel as if we're old pals anyway, since I've been giving tours at his childhood home for several years. Much to chat about, including his big family, his teaching days at Bowdoin or Harvard, and his amazing circle of friends. He was a genuinely nice guy, too, and would be pleasant to converse with.
7. Charles Dickens - I was thinking about him the other day, wondering if Scrooge was based on a real person. Of all the writers, his brain is the one I wish was in my own head. To create such characters, to weave their lives in and out of each other, is such an amazing gift. I'd tell him how his stories are still popular today, and I think he'd love Harry Potter!
8. Charlotte Bronte - An interesting woman to talk to, and I suspect quite strong. I'd want to ask about Monsieur Heger, the real-life inspiration for Mr. Rochester, and her sisters, too. Of course, I'd ask about Jane Eyre - how she wrote it, where she would go, if she liked to write at night or in the morning.
9. Lewis Carroll - A fellow Aquarius, and quite the oddball but such an amazing guy to chat with. We'd go off on silly adventures looking for dodos, nasty queens and white rabbits, then trade wacky poetic verses. He would definitely bring out the little kid in me, encouraging me to let my imagination run wild!
10. L. Frank Baum - I wanted to be a writer after reading Baum's many Oz books, so I'd be over the moon to meet him. He created so many amazing creatures and the Land of Oz itself. So much fun swapping stories about fantastical places, fairy tales and keeping adventure alive. His books had so much influence on me, and he was a big theatrical kind of guy. It would be a wonderful conversation.
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