TLC Blog Tour: Tessa Dare and her dream literary soiree

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First, I want to thank Carol for inviting me to blog today.  When she wrote to arrange the guest post, Carol suggested several topics to me.  One was, “Five authors (dead or alive) you'd like to dine with and why.”  I knew straightaway that was the topic for me.  You see, in my books, I love writing dinner parties.  Nothing makes me happier than writing a scene where eight friends and enemies are hunkered over their beef and bread.  Perhaps it’s the juxtaposition of refined etiquette and sharp knives that makes for such great drama?

The first author I’d invite to my dinner party will come as no surprise to those who know me or read my books:  Jane Austen.  If not for Austen, I wouldn’t be writing Regency-set romance.  If not for Austen, Regency-set romance might not exist, period.  And who could resist the chance to ask a resurrected-from-the-grave Jane Austen what she really thinks of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies?

Because I have this penchant for dramatic dinners, however, the second author I’d invite would be the inimitable Mark Twain.  Now, both Austen and Twain were obviously literary geniuses, and simply being in their presence would be a dream for any writer.  But I have to admit, by inviting the two, I’m really inviting a smackdown.  See, Mark Twain had a longstanding, well-documented dislike of Jane Austen’s work.  A few quotes:

“To me his prose is unreadable -- like Jane Austin's [sic]. No there is a difference. I could read his prose on salary, but not Jane's. Jane is entirely impossible. It seems a great pity that they allowed her to die a natural death.”
- Letter to W. D. Howells, 18 January 1909

“Jane Austen's books, too, are absent from this library. Just that one omission alone would make a fairly good library out of a library that hadn't a book in it.”
- Following the Equator
“I haven't any right to criticise books, and I don't do it except when I hate them. I often want to criticise Jane Austen, but her books madden me so that I can't conceal my frenzy from the reader; and therefore I have to stop every time I begin. Everytime I read 'Pride and Prejudice' I want to dig her up and beat her over the skull with her own shin-bone.”
- Letter to Joseph Twichell, 13 September 1898

Oh, yeah, Mr. Twain?  Let me see you say those things to her face.  Excuse me while I pass the carving knife to Ms. Austen.  Shin-bone indeed. (insert wicked grin here.)  

Seriously, I can’t imagine a better evening’s entertainment than to somehow put these two masters of wit and words in the same room and let the sparks fly.  Talk about a verbal fencing match!  Who would emerge the victor?  Why, those lucky enough to observe it, of course.

And since I have three spots left at my dinner table, I would give two of them to Courtney Milan and Carey Baldwin—two authors who are my dear friends and critique partners.  I would invite them because I love and miss them, and we never get to have dinner together often enough.  Also, Courtney is a foodie who always knows the best restaurants. 

So that would leave me one seat at the table.  Hm.  I think I would auction it off to the highest bidder to benefit out-of-work Gulf shrimpers, because…whoa.  There surely would be some people willing to pay out big for this. 

What about you?  Who would you invite to your dream literary soiree?

Thanks, Carol, for inviting me – and for giving me such a fun topic to blog about!

Thanks, Tessa, for stopping by! Glad to have you here! Check out the other tour stops! You can answer the bolded questions for an extra entry to the giveaway! =)

You can find Tessa at her website, Twitter, and Facebook!

Tuesday, Jun 1st: The Book Binge
Monday, June 7th: Borders True Romance Blog
Tuesday, June 8th: Life of a Busy Wife
Monday, June 14th: Pop Culture Junkie
Tuesday, June 15th: Rundpinne
Thursday, June 17th: Book Junkie
Thursday, June 17th:  Book Junkie
Monday, June 21st: Book-Lover Carol
Wednesday, June 23rd: Princess Bookie
Thursday, June 24th: Excess Baggage