Top Ten Characters and Authors To interview

The suggested Top Ten Tuesday topic for today is “Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors” but since I get tongue-tied whenever I have a chance to talk to an author, I knew I’d have to tweak the topic a little. It’ll be interesting to see what lists other bloggers come up with.

“Questions I Would Ask My Favorite Authors” reminded me of the interview included at the end of my book club paperback copy of Olive Kitteridge – an “interview” with author Elizabeth Strout and the blunt-spoken Mainer she created, Olive Kitteridge. Here’s how it starts:

Random House Reader’s Circle sat down with Olive Kitteridge and Elizabeth Strout in a doughnut shop in Olive’s hometown of Crosby, Maine.

Random House Reader’s Circle: Thank you both for meeting with us. This is such a treat.

Olive Kitteridge: Well, it’s strange. I’ll say that.

Elizabeth Strout: It’s lovely to be here, thank you.

I enjoyed this playful, yet also serious, interview with the author and the strong female character the author says she thinks of as “ferocious and complicated and kindly and sometimes cruel”. It was a clever twist on the usual book discussion guide section, too.

Read the full Random House Reader’s Circle “interview” with Olive Kitteridge and Elizabeth Strout here.

For today’s Top Ten list, I chose ten other characters and authors I’d like to see interviewed, and why.

Maybe some of these interviews have actually been done and I just need to find them!

1. May Belle from Conjure Woman and author Afia Atakora
Miss May Belle – midwife, healer, and slave on a Southern plantation in the Civil War era – is main character Rue’s mother, and readers see her mainly through Rue’s eyes. I would love to listen in as May Belle and author Afia Atakora talked together.

2. Nina Lazare from The Chalk Artist with author Allegra Goodman
Nina Lazare, the daughter of a famous tech mogul who turned virtual reality into real wealth, became a public school math teacher but isn’t sure she is making a real difference in her students’ lives. Author Allegra Goodman writes the best dialogue for her characters and makes such sharp observations about contemporary life, an interview with her and Nina would be witty and thought-provoking on topics ranging from art to gaming to what is real and lasts.

3. Maddie from The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory
Aww, you knew I’d have Jasmine Guillory in here somewhere, didn’t you? Maddie from the enemies-to-friends romance in The Wedding Party is one of my favorite characters in the smart, funny novels by Jasmine Guillory. Maddie is a stylist and a great friend (and wing woman) with strong opinions and a wicked sense of humor. There are a lot of interviews with the author online, but the author could write the best one with herself and Maddie talking. It would have to be on audio read by Janina Edwards, though, to be absolutely perfect!

4. Eleanor Oliphant from Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine with author Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant reminded me in some ways of Olive Kitteridge. They both lack a natural ability to interact easily with other people and they are both known as eccentric characters within their own fictional worlds. I think author Gail Honeyman would have a lot to talk about with Eleanor.

5. Reine Marie Gamache of the Three Pines books with author Louise Penny
Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is the main character and wise father figure in these novels about the tiny village of Three Pines in Montreal and the Quebec police department, but his librarian wife Reine Marie has a quiet wisdom of her own that he draws on from time to time. Author Louise Penny has a great ear for dialogue and she and Reine Marie would probably have a fascinating conversation (in French?) on classic literature, favorite foods, and how all the other characters in the books are doing — who is FINE and who isn’t.

6. Count Alexander Rostov from A Gentleman in Moscow with author Amor Towles
Because 480 pages about the courtly Russian aristocrat Count Alexander Rostov in A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles isn’t enough!

7. Grace MacBride from the Monkeewrench books with author P.J. Tracy
Knife-carrying, taciturn Grace MacBride —leader of the Monkeewrench group of misfit friends and computer geniuses who are the Minneapolis homicide department’s secret weapon — is maybe the most mysterious and definitely the most badass character on this list. I love the Monkeewrench books on audio and in print. Although Grace doesn’t often participate in the good-natured banter that runs through the books, when she does speak, everyone listens.

8. Cheryl from Clock Dance with author Anne Tyler
Cheryl is the 9-year-old, almost-grandaughter of main character Willa Drake in this story of dysfunctional, tangentially connected families finding kinship with each other in Baltimore. We get to know her pretty well in Clock Dance through Willa’s eyes, but I’d love to hear how she and author Anne Tyler would talk together.

9. Aviva/Jane from Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
An interview between the title character of Young Jane Young, who ends up in a Monica Lewinsky-like situation, and her sympathetic author Gabrielle Zevin would likely be a great conversation about empowering women, forgiving younger selves for mistakes, running for office, and the eternal double standard. Read author Gabrielle Zevin’s essay on the Algonquin Web site about women running for office to see what I mean. They might also talk about their mothers.

Oops, I only ended up with nine because I ran out of time before it’s no longer Tuesday. Any suggestions for the tenth interview?