Tag, I'm It!

I've been tagged by L. Marie at El Space! (Thank you, L. Marie!) The "Tag, you're it" is a way of getting to know the people behind various blogs. El sent me eleven cool questions to answer, and I am running really late answering them. If this were a real game of tag, it would be getting dark right now, and a chilly wind would be whipping up, so here I go:

What book inspires you the most?

The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño, which I've read in both English and Spanish. (I cheated by reading the English translation first.) I really do think this is his best book--amazing in both its small details and the overall story arc. It's a huge, complex story that's hard to describe, but I was totally drawn into it as someone who wishes I had that kind of life (and wishes I could write like that too!).

What is your favorite type of M & M?

Peanut.

If you could meet any living author, who would you choose? Why?

Well, it's too late for Roberto Bolaño, because he died in 2003 and according to Isabel Allende was a rather unpleasant person when he was alive. I really want to meet an author who's nice and whose work I appreciate, and I've been fortunate to have met some of the most talented and gracious authors around. (Julia Alvarez comes to mind, as I saw her for the second time at an event at Siena College a couple of weeks ago.) Of ones I haven't yet met, I think I'd pick Isabel Allende or Antonio Skármeta because I love their works for both adult and young readers and both of them influenced me in my writing of Gringolandia.