This is my first time doing Top Ten Tuesday and what a(n) intimidating fun topic to start with. (Man, this took a long time to come up with. Maybe I gave it too much thought!)

First off, you know, I have to choose authors whose books just draw me in because they possess the right amount of magic and fun. But, I also like writers who are thoughtful and intelligent. And….you got the picture. I love authors who write well and entertain me and feed my brain.

The numbers have nothing to do with anything except a resource of list keeping.

Mea culpa to any author I’ve forgotten who I adore and would love to meet…although you don’t know that, so you can’t be offended!

1. Ilona Andrews.  For the sake of this post, I’m going to morph them into one person. (Yikes!) I love the sense of humor and the adventure of their novels and if the novels represent who they are, they are fun.
2. Sharla Lovelace.  Her books are funny and magical and just a smidge snarky. She’d be fun to hang out with!
3. Richard Russo.  I might feel out of my element with Richard Russo although I’ve read several (many?) of his novels and loved them. I always feel intimidated by intelligent funny men. But he’s insightful and writes with heart about the human experience. I’d like to meet him. Do a beer? Wine? Coffee? I don’t know, maybe.
4. Anne Tyler. Is there anyone who understands and writes true stories about the human condition while adding in humor and sentimentality and sometimes a touch of magic better than Anne Tyler? Doubtful. Love to talk with her.
5. Charlaine Harris. I’ve read almost all of her books. She has an amazing canon with a variety of styles. Her writing makes me think that she might be an interesting person to meet.
6. Mary Oliver. I don’t think I’ve identified with another poet, who finds love in the nature the way that Mary Oliver does. This would be an honor.
7. Stephen King. As a kid, I devoured his novels. As an adult, I discovered that he wrote so much more. He knows how to write a great short story and evaluate and review other writers. He’s more than just a horror novelist and always has been. Talk about an intimidating meet!
8. Jennifer Crusie. She is one of the wittiest writers of romantic comedy there is. She loves dogs and impossible romantic situations that she somehow makes come right. She and I were on a mailing list back in the day, dealing with dogs who had kidney disease. It was the wrong place to introduce myself so that I could become her new best friend. (Ha, ha) I wish she would write more…or at all. She’s missed.
9. From vampires to bait shops and mortuaries, Molly Harper has made me laugh, but she’s also made me cry, which makes me think that she would probably be a writer I’d like to meet.
10. Some people just rattle off a list, so why do I find this so hard? There are writers that I appreciate very much like Faulkner and Hemingway and Austen, but do I want to meet them? Not so much. So, I don’t know whether we’re permitted to include someone who isn’t living, and I don’t know why this writer comes to my mind, but it’s Melissa Nathan. She wrote wonderful romantic comedies that had heart and soul. She died at the age of 37 in 2006 from breast cancer. A loss for us all. I once offered one of her books to a book club, and while they read it, they didn’t understand the magic. I hope if you read her novels, you do. There are so few writers who have kindness, joy, and yet backslapping humor in their repertoire. It’s always unfortunate to lose one.