Got Dirt?

When you google an author you like, what are you looking for?

I mean, sure, I'd like to know other books that they've written, so I can buy more.

But mainly, these days: I'm looking for dirt.

Oh, sure, if I'm in love with their world, it's nice to have maps and characters and forums and such, but these days, being a writerly type and all, I want to know if they went to Clarion, what cons they go to, who their friends are, are they from the mid-west? Do they travel much? Basically, all that google-stalker stuff that you want to know about everyone you went to high school with, except for those dirt bags in junior high who you're just going to assume make a living as gas station attendants trapped in loveless marriages.

I just realized today that I'm not so much interested in the bookishness anymore as much as I'm interested in the author as a person who I could potentially meet at a con. Maybe this is because I'm sort of done with the writerly advice. I'm not so much interested in advice on how to get an agent or a book contract. How to build a career, yes, but what I reeeeaaalllly want are answers to the hard-hitting questions, like:

Do you like Chipotle burritos? What's your favorite Buffy episode? What would happen if you were trapped on a desert island with Chuck Norris? Where did you grow up? And why did you pick that stupid LJ handle?

I'm not sure why I suddenly find this stuff more interesting than the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow, but I do.

Maybe it has something to do with being trapped in the cultural wasteland that is Dayton, OH? Maybe I'm just interested in the lives of other writers, cause living in a wasteland is pretty much full of, you know, waste.

It gets kinda lonely on the writerly front.