Meeting the author

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If you could meet an author before reading a book, would it make a difference in what you thought of the book?  I ask this question because I wonder if the author's personality would make you more or less likely to enjoy the book.

As a reader myself, I like knowing what motivated the author to create the characters. Is the protagonist based on someone the author knows? What contributed to the twists and turns of the plot? Is any of the story based on the author's personal experiences?

As an author, I know that I am already plotting how to get Jayne to Napa and deciding what is going to happen if she falls off a bicycle and breaks a few bones - definitely art imitating life! Wherever I am or whatever I am doing might be used in a future scene.

There have been a few books lately where I desperately want to beg the author to explain why she wrote a certain scene. What was she thinking?  If the writer explained the background would you be more inclined to give a book a favorable review? Consider that the next time you are reading a new author.

Happy trails,

Leslie


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