If I Could Be Any Author...

Which pre-1950 author would I want to be and why?

Easy answer:

Alexandre Dumas (père): Not because his life was an easy one (it wasn't and he was his own worst enemy). Not because he had a bad habit of spending far more than he earned, which caused him to be a debtor on the run and die in poverty, utterly dependent on his son. Not only because he wrote some of the most awesome classics (The D'Artagnan Romances, The Count of Monte Cristo, Georges, The Fencing Master, to name a few). Not because he liberally borrowed ideas from everyone and anyone (I'm not going to debate the French Fiction Factory here).

Yes, he was a philanderer and a hedonist. Yes, he was the epitome of a bon vivant. Yes, his favorite topic was himself. Yes, he was a rabble rouser. Yes, he often bit the hand that helped him. Yes, he exuded that intangible, inexplicable yet joyous je ne sais quoi that drew men and women of all classes and causes to him. Yes, his greatest successes could be construed as cautionary tales.

Had I been his minder, his keeper, or his steward, I probably would have...killed him.

So why, oh why, would I want to be Alexandre Dumas?

By all accounts, he approached his days with great zeal. His determined enthusiasm and commitment to experiencing every high, low, and bump in the road showed in his prolific works. His writing never kept him from experiencing a life as great--if not greater than--any of his characters.

I envy his ardor, his fervor, and his fearlessness. 

If I could become one of the Greats of Authors Past, I would be the man who gave birth to the tragic heroes of D'Artagnan, Dantes; I would be one part Sicilian Bandit and one part Prussian Terror. I would be Alexandre Dumas (père).

Ghosts of Authors Past

I finally decided to frame all of my cover flats from the Twelve Kingdoms/Uncharted Realms series. Makes me very happy to see them there on my wall. A little gift to myself. I think those things are sometimes worth doing, to remind ourselves of our accomplishments.

This week in the Bordello, we've been asked to reflect on the Ghosts of Authors Past: Which classical author would we want to be and why? Our Calendarzilla also specified that it has to be someone published pre-1950.

Why 1950? I DON'T KNOW. Ask KAK.

Anyway, this is not a question that's an easy answer for me. I believer in the holistic approach to envy. I know we're not talking envy exactly here, but that's often what's at play when we look at someone else's life and think, "I'd like to be them." Come on - you know you've done it. We all have. The fast antidote to this less-than-generous emotion is to take a step back and ask yourself if you'd take their entire life.

I don't know about you, but my answer is always no. I like my life very much. While I might cast covetous eyes on someone else's publishing deal, I know I would not want, say, their health problems. Or their difficult family.

You know what I mean.

We all have trials and difficulties, and I never find myself envying someone else's troubles.

So... every author I can think of who I'd pick, has a life I wouldn't want. My first answer is Jane Austen, because you say "classical author you love" to me and I think Jane Austen. But wow - she died young, never knew how much her books would be loved and did the woman ever get to have sex??? No, no, no.

I went through this process with every author that sprang to mind. No, I wouldn't want to have any of their lives. That's the whole point of the metaphor of the Ghosts of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol. They're in the past, no longer viable or real.

Savor each moment of the present. Be exactly who you are.

Joy to you all, whatever you celebrate, in whatever way.