I'd like to meet:
The people who read my book(s); Chris Crutcher, whose books, Ironman and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes first inspired me to write YA fiction. Chris also graciously allowed me to use Ironman as a plot device in my book, and encouraged me to write Courage in Patience. I admire, as well, Sherman Alexie and Stephen Chbosky; Stephen King-- his book on writing is awesome and even though I don't like to read scary stories, I think he and I could have a really cool dialogue about the craft of writing; my students when they are grown, to see if they still consider me one of their most demanding teachers of all time. I'd also like to meet my great-great-great-great grandchildren, because I want to see if the curious experiment that has been my life so far has a positive impact on their lives.
Music:
I respect songwriters tremendously for their ability to weave music and words into meaningful gifts: Chuck Pyle, Eliza Gilkyson, Cat Stevens; Jackson Browne, Stephen Allen Davis,Don Henley; Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Stevie Ray Vaughan; Shawn Colvin, David Wilcox, Kate Wolf...
Movies:
An Unfinished Life and Black Cloud (Rick Schroeder wrote & directed it & is in it-- what a talented man he is) are two of my all-time favorite movies. I also love The Shawshank Redemption; Little Miss Sunshine; Freedom Writers..
Television:
WHEN I watch TV, I try to catch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; The Colbert Report; Monk; Psych; Law and Order Criminal Intent-- but I'll watch just about any of the Law and Order shows. Actually, I don't watch a lot of TV, because I'm usually reading or talking to my family or writing and don't pay much attention to what's on TV.
Books:
Because I love the movie, An Unfinished Life, I wanted to read Mark Spragg's novel which was, oddly enough, written AFTER the screenplay. He also wrote The Fruit of Stone-- and he is AWESOME. Anybody studying character development and dialogue NEEDS to read his stuff. I think Chris Crutcher is a YA fiction god-- it was in the discovery of his books, Ironman and Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes-- that I realized that I could write the kinds of stories that were inside of me, and people would actually "get" them. I am YA fiction junkie and student of YA writers: Just Listen, Keeping the Moon, That Summer- Sarah Dessen; Swallowing Stones- Joyce McDonald; The Outsiders- S.E. Hinton-- the woman all YA fiction writers owe an incredible debt of gratitude; Writers starting out should read Bird by Bird- Ann Lamott and On Writing:A Memoir of the Craft-Stephen King--in reading those books, I felt as if I was talking to people I'd known forever. If you wanted to know who I am in terms of religious faith and how I look at the world-- without meeting me-- you could get a pretty good idea by reading Credo, by William Sloane Coffin. My favorite quote of his is, "By-the-rule-book Christians are more impressed with God's power than His love." I love Sarah Vowell's writing, and David Sedaris' stuff makes me laugh so hard I get abdominal charlie horses. I'm currently reading On Ice, by Red Evans, Rabid, by T.K. Kenyon, and How to Know God, by Deepak Chopra, is also on my nightstand.
Heroes:
The five people who have taught me most what it is to love, be loved, and BELONG, right where I am, today: Daniel, Mandy, Alissa, Kristen, and MEJ; Chris Crutcher, for being brave enough to write stories for kids in a way that they can really "hear"; Martin Luther King, Jr., Cindy Sheehan (a woman who loved her child and HAD ENOUGH of being brushed off by "W" & decided to make a point. What a courageous woman. She's an uber-mom.) I hold in high esteem anybody who is brave enough to put him- or her-self "out there" to speak out against wrong; people who STEADY ON, even when on "ten miles of two-lane on a South Dakota wheat plain in the middle of a hard rain"; people who recognize others' rights to "be" and are content to COEXIST; people who recognize and are willing to voice the belief that Blindly Following Bad Leaders is NOT Patriotism, teachers who teach because to do otherwise is unimaginable; parents who DO THEIR JOB of loving their children unconditionally and keeping their children safe-- regardless of their own baggage-- NO MATTER WHAT; and people who do the right thing even when it's not easy, fun, or pretty. NOBODY SAID IT WOULD BE EASY.