Girlfriends Confess Their Literary Crushes

Sometimes it’s a character we crush on. Other times it’s an author who make our hearts skip a beat. Is their someone in the literary world who rocks your world?

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Sleazy Crush

I'm kind of sleazy when it comes to literary crushes... I have so many! Siobhan Fallen ("You Know When the Men Are Gone") is my new girlfriend, but I've also recently flirted with Elin Hildebrand, Eleanor Brown ("The Weird Sisters") and - blush - dozens of others. I find something to admire in just about every book I read, and the vast majority of authors I've met have been warm, kind, and supportive.

Sarah Pekkanen

So many Crushes, So Little Time

If I had to pick a fictional guy to love, I’d probably go with David from Tananarive Due’s African Immortals series (MY SOUL TO KEEP, THE LIVING BLOOD, BLOOD COLONY) b/c he’s smart, experienced, capable, yet incredibly human — despite being immortal. However, he’s also really dangerous — so that’s a drawback." And here's the link to the full blog, if you're interested in discovering what I think about the more traditional literary crushes like Mr. Darcy, Edward Cullen, and Huck Finn: http://fierceandnerdy.com/one-more-thing-before-we-go-fictional-men-we-love

Ernessa Carter

Gotta Love the Girlfriends

My literary crush is a big one. It's all my fellow Girlfriends (and, no, my husband isn't jealous!). Yeah, I know that sounds like such a kiss-ass thing to say. But it's true. I am finding so many things to admire--and aspire to--every day when I read a post by another Girlfriend. In addition to writing so many varied and wonderful books, each woman has led such an amazing/crazy/complicated life. I love hearing about struggles overcome and negatives turned to positives, and I've found plenty of that right here on this page. And for those Girlfriends I've gotten to know better one-on-one, I find more to admire still. So call me Ms. Brown Nose if you want to, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Susan McBride http://susanmcbride.com/

Grooving On Gatsby

If we're talking about other writers we have a crush on, it'd have to be Arturo Perez-Reverte. I love his literary thrillers but what I really love is the fact that he often features smart and strong women who don't take a back seat to male characters, and I also love the sheer joy that comes through in his writing, even though he writes about dark things. If we're talking about crushes on fictional characters, it'd have to be Jay Gatsby (so tragic!), Phineas from A Separate Peace (so charismatic!) and Kit from my own novel, The Twin's Daughter (the only purely heroic male character I've ever created).

http://www.laurenbaratzlogsted.com/

Literary Slut

I believe I must be the literary equivalent of a slut, because I have so many crushes I can't count them on two hands! What I most admire is when story is central but the style carries it forward and every so often the writer will hit a perfect note. Even my favorite authors have books that don't turn me on, but the lasting memories of being spellbound include but aren't limited to: THE SPARROW (Mary Doria Russell) THE PRINCE OF TIDES (Pat Conroy) ELLEN FOSTER (Kaye Gibbons) COLD MOUNTAIN (Charles Frazier) WHAT CAME BEFORE HE SHOT HER (Elizabeth George) THE FOUR GATED CITY (Doris Lessing) MYSTIC RIVER (Dennis Lehane) SOPHIE'S CHOICE (William Styron) THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (John Le Carre) PILLARS OF THE EARTH (Ken Follett) JANE EYRE (Charlotte Bronte) PRIDE AND PREJUDICE (Jane Austen) BELOVED (Toni Morrison) THE HANDMAID'S TALE (Margaret Atwood) PUSH, later called PRECIOUS, by Sapphire, ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE Gabriel Garcia Marquez, AUNT JULIA AND THE SCRIPTWRITER (Mario Vargas Llosa) HEARTBURN (Nora Ephron) GONE WITH THE WIND (Margaret Mitchell) REBECCA (Daphne De Maurier). I know that I could go on listing books that I just loved. Already I'm thinking, hey, what about THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, what about LITTLE BEE and CUTTING FOR STONE? I recently read a column by a middle-aged woman who said she didn't have any friends who wished that they'd slept around more when they were young. True dat, but when it comes to reading, I am proudly promiscuous.

Sheila Curran

I Love Darcy!

Darcy. Need I go on? All that pent-up emotion held below the surface...and, of course Colin Firth has *nothing* to do with it! I also find Elizabeth Peters' heros like Emerson and John Smyth refreshingly manly in this age of rather wimpy I-don't-want-to-grow-up guys portrayed so throughly by Judd Apatow.

Sara Rosett

Jonesing for Jodi

Jodi Picoult is my secret valentine! For me, she represents the Uber-author package: story, voice characters, and words. Her ability to weave tales and sentences gets my heart going every time. As a reader she entertains with intricate uncommon stories, and as a writer there’s always something to learn. However, I truly, truly hope I never meet her. As crushes go, it would undoubtedly end in unrequited love, as I’d trip, spill, and probably forget my own name!

Laura Spinella

Nick's the One

My literary crush is Nick Hornby, hands down. He's consistently funny, occasionally irreverent and, quite possibly, even more of a music geek than I am. I've been a fan from High Fidelity to Juliet, Naked. The only guy (aside from my husband :-) that I just might love more than Nick is Jon Bon Jovi.

~Marilyn Brant

Lit Love

I have so many literary crushes!! I love the way Dani Shapiro and Ayelet Waldman write-- and they are both super nice in person, to boot! I am in awe of Emily Giffin and Allison Winn Scotch-- they've created such amazing careers for themselves (and ditto about the whole being super nice in person thing!) And of course, there is Elinor Lipman. I fell in love with The Inn at Lake Devine years ago, so when I met her, I told her so. She signed my copy of Inn and wrote: The Inn loves you back.

Brenda Janowitz

Rhett, Darcy and Atticus

Literary crushes are really the best . . . . because you can visit them whenever you want, in the privacy of your own home, and they are always just as you remembered them. I'm thinking of Atticus Finch and Mr. Darcy and Rhett Butler (and, um, I guess I'm also thinking of Gregory Peck and Colin Firth and Clark Gable, but is that so wrong?).

Judy Larsen

Loving On Anne Tyler

I've read “Accidental Tourist” so many times the pages are falling out. I don’t remember when I first read Anne Tyler but once I did I was hopelessly smitten. So wise, so funny, so clever with characters. To me there is no equal.

Karin Gillespie

Girlfriend News GETTING AWAY IS DEADLY by Sara Rosett is on sale for 99 cents at BN.com (ebook version) until 4/11. It's free for the Kindle and is currently the number one free download in the Women Sleuth category on Amazon's Kindle list. Watch for THE NITTY GRITTY GUIDE TO GETTING A LITERARY AGENT out next week on Kindle as well.

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