Yep! Generally I will read something or several somethings (short stories, novels, etc) by the author before I do though. What usually inspires me to look them up is noticing recurring patterns across different bodies of work. Sometimes I make some kind of guess about what reasons they could be interested in whatever it is, and then off I go to read more about them.

I have a lot of fun seeing what "theories" of mine have a tiny basis in reality!