Secret Stash

What is the subject of that one piece of writing that you will never show to the world?  And if you have such a piece of writing, are you amenable to having it published after your death?

Hey, just because I pose the questions doesn't mean that I have to answer them all as well.

Earliest Book Memory

What is your earliest book memory?

I remember two or three things-being read Madeline and Babar, (which is where I think I developed my fascination for French), and I also remember my mother joining a children's book club where, each month, we received a collection of stories in a sort-of Reader's Digest format.  I remember that the Georgie the Ghost stories were always my favorites.

The Moment of Gestation

For what literary work would you like to go back and experience the moment of gestation?

The first words of a great work set down?  I think I would have liked to be present at Oxford when Tolkien wrote these words: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."  I imagine it was a cold, rainy night, or a cold, grey dawn, and Tolkien was sitting at the solid hulking desk in his study surrounded by his books.  He looked out the leaded-pane glass windows, which were diamond-shaped.  A small fire burned in the fireplace, and he imagined the comfort of the hobbit hole.  That is how I imagine it happened, and so much of that picture enters into my consciousness as details of the writing life: dark, bookish, secure against the elements, contemplating the world outside, but mentally being elsewhere.  Something archaic about the scene, connecting the past to the present and future.  I could go on, but I have other things to write... 

Genre Jumping

In which genre other than your own would you like to develop your abilities ?

I think, if I were to choose another genre, it would probably be fantasy.  I would probably end up writing historical fantasy, something that resembled quasi-medieval Tolkien or Martin, or perhaps, since I write ancient history, Egyptian, Greek or Roman-type fantasy.  Any good authors on that score that I should be reading? 

Time Travel

If you were capable of time-travel would you go forward or backwards?  When and where?

I, of course, would go back, since historical fiction seems to be my thing.  I always thought I would have liked to witness The Sermon on the Mount, because, I mean, it's Jesus!  But nowadays, since I'm working on a story set there, I'd like to spend a day in Ancient Caria (modern-day Turkey).  That would be mind-blowing.

I suppose I would most like to have the ability to go back to the places I am writing about, which would include such times and places as 18th century England, 19th century France, 4th century Alexandria (whoa), and early 20th century Russia.  I would have quite a time-traveler passport.