Monday, October 15, 2012

Who's the Hottie?


I will admit up front that I filched this idea from Lisa Samson, who as far as I know was the first and last to host a hottie contest for dead writers. But we're fresh out of seriousness today here on Novel Matters, and it's the month for spookiness, which we do have - and which is why the contestants are all dead.

And I totally know that somewhere, someplace you took interest in an author just because he was so adorable.

I'm pretty sure about this. Or was it just me? (I'll tell you who my crush was later.)

For now, here's the lineup. Which of these authors was gorgeous enough to earn your devotion on looks alone, and which were not? Tell the truth. You can't hurt their feelings: they're dead.

(It's okay to add a write-in. Just be sure and pick a dead one, for reasons referenced above.)

Ernest Hemingway

Langston Hughes

W.B. Yeats

Pablo Neruda
Katy, you know me. I'm such a rebel. I have a write-in from the start, Jack London, ruggedly handsome and intriguing. Besides having survived all that he wrote about, he puts his reader right into the setting of his books. Be careful, you may get frostbite and always bring extra matches. A little cabin. A wolf sleeping in front of the fire. And Jack London. He would have loved Goretex. "I'm putting on my parka, Jack!"

Jack London


Okay, Patti, Jack's a hottie. Young, but a hottie.  Like this one of Ernest Hemingway as a soldier boy. He had the good looks of Tom Cruise.


 Also, I like his scruffy look, after life had put a little mileage on him. I think it makes him more interesting. He has an Errol Flynn-type of roguishness in this picture, which goes with his whole warrior/safari hunter/toreador image.  I admit that while I've read a lot of his work, I can't say I understood them one hundred percent.

Debbie, you're right. Young Hemingway does have a Tom Cruise look about him. May I just say it was, well, a challenge to find a deceased male author who fit the "hottie" category. A real challenge. But I came up with Jack Kerouac, whom I've never read, but I may want to remedy that.


Jack Kerouac

I vote for two write-ins: Nathanael Hawthorne and Sir Walter Scott, both of whom I mooned over as I played the old Authors card game when I was young.



Nathaniel Hawthorne

Sir Walter Scott




20 comments:

Megan Sayer said...

OMG, how could nobody mention Truman Capote? He was my #1 crush some years ago when I first bought Other Voices, Other Rooms...SUCH a hottie. But then he got old and wrote In Cold Blood, and...well...the back cover of that one was so much less appealing, so I had to go back to...oh, we're not going there, are we : )

Megan Sayer said...

...and Debbie thank you for bringing up Errol Flynn, who is, of course, Tasmanian! Bet you didn't know that he and I were born in the same hospital.

Amy K. Sorrells said...

I'll vote for Yeats . . . there's some bad boy lurking behind those glasses. But all this makes me wonder . . . will people think we're hot when we're dead someday, too???

Dina Sleiman said...

Very cute subject. Hemingway: hot but depressing, no thank you. Hughes: hot but...sorry ladies...probably gay. Kerouac definitely caught my eye! Might have to check out that hottie along with Sharon. And there's always the infamous, roguish Lord Byron.

Susie Finkbeiner said...

I've got to vote for a young John Steinbeck. Those crystal blue eyes, dark hair all curly and messy. He was also accustomed to hard, physical work, which is appealing. And he had a concern for the world in which he lived. That's always been very attractive.

Oh, John Steinbeck. {Swoon}.

Wendy Paine Miller said...

And they are:

Langston Hughes, Jack London, and Jack Kerouac.

:D
~ Wendy

Nicole said...

I'm with Sharon here. Wow. Who knew? Way lost but definitely hot. ;)

Kathleen Popa said...

Errol Flynn a Tasmanian! Now that just confirms that Tasmania must be quite the swashbuckling place.

And you're right: Capote was pretty handsome in his younger days.

And Dina, you're right: we have to include Lord Byron. Especially with the orange turban thing.

Amy Yeats was my pick too. But yes, I will have to consider Kerouac...

Cherry Odelberg said...

Latayne's picture of Sir Walter Scott is significantly hotter than the white haired one that graces my deck of authors. After an exhaustive search of the internet, I have come to the conclusion that most authors are better looking before the age of 25. So, I could have saved myself some time by agreeing with Kathleen Popa on Ernest Hemingway.

Nicole said...

P.S. Langston Hughes is no slouch either.

Nicole said...

Hughes is gay?! Ack! What a waste of manhood.

Bonnie Grove said...

Langston Hughes was a boy evangelist, with a huge congregation at age 14. When he hit puberty, there was no place for him in the church. He traveled, wrote, and yes, he was gay.
His was a varied and interesting life.

V. Gingerich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Latayne C Scott said...

Cherry, you're right about the Authors card game image of Sir Walter Scott. But he looked dreamy to me, and Hawthorne looked dashing.

I wanted to post some of the Authors card game images but was afraid they were copyrighted. Yeah, I know, I'm a wuss.

Bonnie Grove said...

I added an image of the author playing cards for you, Latayne.

Megan Sayer said...

But they're too small to see! Who are they? Which one is the dreamy one?
I'm pretty fascinated by this idea o an author card game though...imagine a modern version! Now that's a good way of getting publicity for your books...
Hey...new for Christmas 2012...the Novel Matters card game!

Cherry Odelberg said...

Oh, my, your James Fenimore Cooper, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mark Twain are the only images the same as mine.

Cherry Odelberg said...

P.S. I found a set of children's author cards at Friday Harbour in the Northwest San Juan Islands.

Latayne C Scott said...

Mine were the really old ones -- only one woman (Louisa May Alcott.)

Kelly Gunter Atlas said...

Wow! Jack Kerouac was a hottie! Who knew?!

And, like Sharon said, it was a real challenge to find a deceased male author who fit the "hottie" category, especially after you had all culled the cream of the crop. But here are my two offerings:

William Faulkner
http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/faulkner/faulkner.jpg

August Derleth
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:August_Derleth_portrait_in_youth.png