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Is
there an author past or present that may have inspired you to write? If yes
please tell us who this author is and how they may have inspired you?
I’ve been a reader for 39 years—thank you Go, Dog, Go! for helping me learn to
read—and my reading tastes have constantly changed since then. While I still
enjoy an action-packed tale, the last book I read featuring a canine main
character was Garth Stein’s The Art of
Racing in the Rain. (Be sure to bring tissues if you read it.)
A lot of my fellow writers can name an author who inspired
them to become writers, or who inspire them to continue writing as adults. Neil
Gaiman, Sue Grafton, Judy Blume… the names of these icons roll off their
tongues without hesitation. But for me, it’s a little more complicated. I have
a hard time picking a favorite anything (those bank security questions are a
nightmare), so since choosing ONE author who shaped me is nearly impossible,
here’s a quick run through my inspirations over the years.
If you don’t know the name Francine Connor, you really
missed out. Her Sweet Valley High
books shaped my adolescence—much to my mother’s dismay—and I spent hours
devouring the stories of twins Elizabeth and Jessica and the boys that floated
in and out of their lives. I soon moved on to mysteries and literary fiction,
but I learned that capturing those moments of first love and first experiences
can make your books addictive.
Next came John Grisham and Patricia Cornwell. I relied on my
mother’s extensive library from my teens through my early twenties, and they
taught me about pacing, character development, and holding a reader’s attention
to the final page.
Chick lit became a thing in my mid-twenties, and the first
books I purchased on my own were pink, hilarious, and sexy. Jane Green, Helen Fielding,
and Sophia Kinsella became my idols. I saw myself in their well-meaning but
bumbling characters, and learned that pulling from your own experiences can
make a story ring true, no matter how ridiculous the situation.
As chick lit faded, I bounced around the literary fiction
world. Khaled
Hosseini, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Jodi Picoult shared space on my shelf until
the day I discovered young adult fiction. A certain vampire series was big
around the time I came up with what would later become my first YA novel
Flicker, and after ravaging those, I moved on to Lisa McMann and Jennifer Echols.
Then Stephanie Perkins and John Green. Huntley Fitzpatrick, Maggie Stiefvater,
Marissa Meyer… you get the idea.
Now that I’m immersed in the world of young adult, I
continue to learn from my fellow authors and be amazed with the stories they
write. I can only hope that someday a writer will look up to me the same way.
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