Short story / novelette - I would like to know the title and author

[pmseattle]

I believe that I read this in an anthology, some time between 1995 and 2015, possibly one of Gardner Dozois' "Years Best", although after skimming through the titles of all of the volumes from #1 to present in Wikipedia, I didn't find one that sounded right. The plot - A female journalist is on a distant planet, assigned to interview a famous or respected author. There is a civil war underway on the planet, and the city where the author resides becomes encircled and besieged by the rebels before the journalist can escape. The rebels will probably overrun the city and slaughter everyone they find, so the author, who is old and in poor health, reluctantly helps the journalist to escape via a hidden exit and guides her through the surrounding jungle toward a distant point where a rescue force is waiting to assist refugees. The pair stop for the night at an old semi-ruined building (a temple?) in the jungle and the journalist comes to the realization that she is not real, but rather a fictional character in one of the novels of the author she was sent to interview.

 

[Ravensquawk]

Do not think that all who do not answer are not quietly going mad with frustration and searching through dimly remembered stories to no avail.