Book Blogger Hop

 

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

What questions would you ask any author if you had the chance?

This question got me going in a few different directions—if we defined “any author” as a particular one: what would I ask? Like what do I want to ask Jim Butcher about? What would I ask Lisa Lutz?, and so on (although we do know what I’d ask Nick Kowlakowsi, K.R.R. Lockhaven, Noelle Holten, etc.). Or are these generic questions you’d ask any author you found yourself talking to?

Then I started thinking—is this for publication or for my own benefit? (in other words—can I get into spoilers and further details?)

I think if I started coming up with fantasy questions for a particular author, this post would be too long to finish (for you or me). Once I got past the Chris Farley stage with Seanan McGuire, for example (You remember that time that Toby got stabbed in Rosemary and Rue? That was cool…Remember that time Toby got stabbed in [virtually any other title]?…) I could go on for hours with her.

So let’s go with the questions I find myself asking just about everyone—because I like hearing the variety of answers (not because I’m lazy*). I know authors get tired of answering, “Where do you get your ideas?”, even if most of them don’t react as antagonistically as Rachel Wallace does, so I ask, “What was it about the idea behind [insert title here] that made you want to spend X months with it?” I also like hearing answers to, “What challenges did you experience in writing [insert title here], and are those particular to this book, or is it the same stuff you struggle with all the time?” I borrowed those notions from Anton Strout’s podcast, the answers he got from those were some of the more interesting in the interviews. Honestly, at the end of the day, just sitting down and talking to an author about any/all parts of the process would be rewarding. I’ve done it once outside of the Q&As I do for the blog and had a great time.

* Well, I am…but it’s not applicable here.

I’m not sure I actually answered this week’s prompt, but I talked around it a lot. Good ’nuff.

What would you ask an author?