This weekend is SCBWI New York, which means lots of writers are going to be invading this fair city, even more than usual. One of these writers is my client, K.M. Walton, who will be attending the conference for the first time as a soon-to-be-published author, or, as she might put it, an Apocalypsie. Another reason I’m excited she’s coming into town is that I finally get to meet one of my non-New Yorker writers in person! Very cool.
So of course, this got me thinking – what living author would you most like to have a drink with? I say “living” because there are way too many dead ones to choose from and I’m trying to limit the possibilities. Since there are sure to be writers who are recovering alcoholics, we’ll use the term “drink” loosely and include coffee and tea.
I would love to sit down with Stephen King. I have to admit to being not exactly well-read in his fiction, but his nonfiction book, On Writing, is a must-read for any aspiring author. Plus I think Uncle Stevie and I would get along based on his very smart essays on pop culture and books that he wrote for Entertainment Weekly.
I would also say David Sedaris or Kelly Link because I think they’d be fun to hang out with. Or Jay McInerney, even though I’d be too intimidated to speak to him. I might end up speaking only in second person.
What say you? Remember, living authors only.
Have a good weekend everyone!
Sarah LaPolla 
Like you, I'd like to meet Stephen King and David Sedaris too. But the ultimate would be J.K. Rowling. No author has been more of an inspiration. I see I'm not alone.
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That's a toughie! There are so many writers I'd love to meet. Russell Banks for one…
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I have to go with J.K. Rowling as well. I need to see how it's possible for one human to have so much creativity in their brain.
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Do I have to pick one? I want to have Diana Rowland, Nicole Peeler, and Laura Bickle over for brownies and coffee so I can pick their urban fantasy brains. Also Allegra Goodman, because I want to know how she got everything so unbelievably right in INTUITION, and JK Rowling, so I can dissolve into a puddle of worshipful, unprofessional, fan-girl goo.
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Elmore Leonard. His books just ooze cool, and you gotta love a guy whose method for writing decades worth of bestsellers is to just “leave out the boring parts.”
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I would LOVE to meet John Green. Goodness, but I would love to meet him. I love his books to death. Unfortunately, I'd probably be way too shy to actually say anything to him…
I read Maggie Stiefvater's and Stephanie Perkins' blogs as well, and they both sound really nice. I could hang out with them, too.
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Margaret Atwood. I once took a class with a girl who was her former neighbor. Atwood baked her cookies to welcome her to the neighborhood. My classmate later bought a chair at Atwood's garage sale. I can't reconcile the writer of Cat's Eye with cookie baking and garage sales.
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Having drinks with Mary Roach and John Irving would be insanely fun. They both seem like they'd be funny in very different ways, plus I'm interested in the research methods each of them employs for writing.
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I was asked this question at a teaching job interview. Talking about being put on the spot.
I'd have to go with Jasper Fforde, of The Eyre Affair, because I'd like to know how he manages to fit all kinds of crazy into his books without it turning into a complete farce.
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Jo Rowling. I would love to talk to her and learn loads of fun tidbits that aren't in the books.
Also, Chris Cleave because I think that would be a really entertaining drink and I want to meet the man who created Little Bee.
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King definitely. He just seems so darned awesome and accessible – I'd also love to sit down with Rick Yancey – I think he's an awesome unsung YA writer.
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Libba Bray because she always makes me laugh whenever I see her in person. I mean, she's in a band of all YA authors and she sings a song with the lyric “Holden Caulfield is Not An Asshole!”
How could I not want to buy a drink for her?
Sarah Dessen because I love her books.
John Green so I can pick his brain on marketing tips.
And Chuck Palahniuk because I bet the evening would be filled with unexpected, mind-bending twists.
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I'm with Feliza on Scott Westerfeld. I'll add Ally Condie, who is probably more like me than a lot of published writers I've heard of, and Rick Bragg, Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist and author of the memoir ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTIN' (which, by the way, is fantastic). Mostly, I just want to hear more about Mr. Bragg's mama. She sounds like an amazing lady.
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Arthur Golden… I would love to know how a white American man made me really believe he was a Japanese female peasant-turned-geisha.
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I would also say Stephen King. I've watched loads of his interviews and he seems wonderfully cynical/realist about writing. He has to be the coolest writer alive today. And he plays the guitar!
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Let's see… David Sedaris, definitely. Meg Cabot. Neil Gaiman. Scott Westerfeld. Snooki.
Just kidding about that last part.
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