Q&A with 2012 Featured Author Meredith Goldstein

Meredith Goldstein, author of “The Singles,” is an advice columnist and entertainment reporter for the Boston Globe. In addition to “Love Letters,” the most popular blog in Boston next to the Red Sox blog, she co-writes the paper’s society column, “Names.” She lives in Boston.

Where do you find inspiration?
Music. My own relationships. My friends. Not surprisingly, I’m also inspired on a daily basis by my work as a love advice columnist for The Boston Globe. Everything I read is book-worthy.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?
Don’t be afraid to show people what you’ve written. Someone’s going to love it, so share. It’ll make your writing real.

What are you reading right now?
I’m embarrassed to say that I just read “50 Shades of Grey.” But I did. It happened. I also just read the Rachel Dratch memoir and Marie Lu’s “Legend.”

What’s your favorite opening line from a book?
Daniel Handler’s opening line in “Why We Broke Up” is my new favorite. That’s the only book that made me laugh and cry after one sentence.

If you could sit down at dinner with three other authors, living or dead, which three authors would you choose, and why?   
John Irving, Stephanie Meyer, and Lois Lowry. I’d love to order take-out with them (burritos?) and watch TV, maybe in pajamas. I think everybody would get along quite well. And then, after a few glasses of Riesling, I’d force them to start writing a book about the Willoughby’s staying in the Hotel New Hampshire with the Cullen’s.