Wow, what a question! Mmm, there are so many…but I think I’d like to spend some time with John Steinbeck. I’d like to tell him I loved his work. He had a tremendous influence on American literature. This was a man who celebrated when his book finally went OFF the NY Times best seller’s list because his neighbors and friends, the people he loved, criticized his work, and essentially ran him out of his hometown. He inspired me to write what’s in my heart and to stand up and say, “I don’t care what you say—I’m writing what I have to write.”
Photo of John Steinbeck: McFadden Publications, Inc.; no photographer credited [Public domain]