Debbi Mack’s 20 Questions Blog Tour

Question 3: Who are your favorite authors?

First of all, I want to thank Missie for hosting me here at The Unread Reader. That’s a great name for a readers’ blog, BTW.

I have so many favorite authors, it’s hard to pick just one or two. I’ve come to love many authors for various reasons.

However, if I had to pick a top ten of favorites I’d want to have with me on a desert island, I’d start with some of my favorite mystery authors, of course.

Among them, I’d include Sue Grafton, Robert Parker and Walter Mosley. I’ve enjoyed their writing and looked to them as sources of inspiration.

I’d also have to include the great spy thriller writer John le Carre. I’ve always loved spy novels and dream someday of being able to write one of my own. I doubt if I’ll ever be able to match le Carre’s amazing style and imaginative plotting, but I can try. (I suppose stranger things have happened. LOL)

And while we’re on the topic of spy thrillers, I’m also a huge fan of Alex Carr. She writes a spy thriller to die for. Carr has also written hardboiled crime fiction and thrillers under her own name Jenny Siler. All her books are awesome.

So, that leaves five. Who would I pick?

Reed Farrel Coleman would have to go on that list. His Moe Praeger series has been written around an absolutely mind-blowing arc over several books.

That leaves only four. Yikes!

How about Ken Bruen? No one else I’ve read can match his flair for making noir read like poetry.

But, wait, there’s also the action-packed, rough and ready books of Christa Faust. So she’d have to be included.

I’d also include Mercedes Lambert, who wrote a really awesome trilogy about a lawyer who investigates murders connected with her cases (sound familiar ) (as well as a standalone under her real name, Douglas Ann Munson).

Oh, my God. That leaves only one. But I haven’t even talked about the writers in other genres like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov or Douglas Adams. It also doesn’t give me nearly enough room to talk about authors who don’t fall neatly into a genre, like Marissa Pessl, Lionel Shriver, Jeffrey Eugenides or Tim O’Brien.

And memoirs. Can’t forget those. I particularly like Jeanette Walls and Haven Kimmel.

And wait! What about the classics? Not only Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Ross MacDonald and Margaret Millar, but authors like Mark Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald and even J.D. Salinger (CATCHER IN THE RYE is a perennial read).

And, oh my God, I nearly forgot the funny writers. (Got to have a few of those around for laughs, right?) That would include Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard (well, he’s sorta funny, isn’t he?) and Donna Moore. (GO TO HELENA HANDBASKET has got to be one of the funniest novels ever.) Douglas Adams would fit here, too.

Okay, so let me think. My favorite authors are almost too numerous to name. However, the above list is fairly representative.

And, if I ever move to a desert island, I shall clearly have to build a library.

Author, Debbi Mack

Thanks for reading, everyone! Don’t forget to leave a comment with your email address if you’d like to enter the drawing for the 10 autographed copies of IDENTITY CRISIS I’m giving away. (One entry per person, but comment as often as you like.)

The drawing will be held on my blog My Life on the Mid-List after the tour is finished. Check my blog for the entire tour schedule.

And please join me at my next stop tomorrow: Paperback Dolls

Debbi Mack is the author of IDENTITY CRISIS, a hardboiled mystery and the first in a series featuring lawyer Stephanie Ann “Sam” McRae. She’s also a short story writer whose ebook anthology, FIVE UNEASY PIECES, includes the Derringer-nominated “The Right to Remain Silent,” originally published in The Back Alley Webzine. Debbi’s work has also appeared in two of the CHESAPEAKE CRIMES anthologies.

Be on the lookout for her next Sam McRae novel, LEAST WANTED, which will be published soon (in print and ebook versions).

Debbi practiced law for nine years before becoming a freelance writer/researcher and fiction author. She’s also worked as a news wire reporter covering the legal beat in Washington, D.C. and as a reference librarian at the Federal Trade Commission. She lives in Maryland with her husband and three cats.

You can find out more about Debbi on her website and her blog My Life on the Mid-List. Her books are available on Amazon, BN.com, Lulu.com, Smashwords and other sites around the Web, and by order at stores. You can also buy autographed copies of her novel from her website at http://www.debbimack.com/identitycrisis.

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Posted at 5:00 am  •  Labels: 2010, Author Guest Post, blog tour