Fiction: Readers, Writers---> What matters?

Questions for the Authors of fiction:

- Why did you begin writing in the first place?
- What inspires you to write? Or who inspires you, such as other authors?
- What have you found the hardest when writing fiction?
- What do you do when what your writing is not working out how you planned?
- What would be some tips you would tell to a young writer interested in writing fiction?

Some critics argue that only the text matters, that the author is irrelevant – do you agree? Is the author “dead”? Should we focus only on the text and the craft and ignore the author’s biography?

I believe the author is not irrelevant to the story's and works they create. With some pieces of work it does not matter at all who wrote them but with others I find it interesting and important. If reading an authors biography allows me to know more about them, then would it not be easier to understand their reasoning behind writing it in the first place. A author could write a story that is completely of the wall and it makes you wonder where these ideas come from. For example the authors story is set in New York and is about a business women with a unbelievable power.  After researching the author you could learn they are inspired by other authors who write magical realism  and that the author grew up in New York. With everything learned about the writer it would be easy to say their work was inspired by something in their life. 

Also knowing about the author and reading their biographies you could learn about a theme they may have through all their works. The story of each writer is not irrelevant it only allows the readers to think more in-depth about the writer and their work.