Hatrack River Writers Workshop: What authors/books inspire you?

This is topic What authors/books inspire you? in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by chalkdustfairy (Member # 9175) on :

When I hit a wall with a project I pull out a favorite book/author to remind me what I love about writing. Here are some of my favorites. Who are yours?

Diana Gabaldon, Garrison Keillor, L.M.Montgomery

Posted by TrishaH24 (Member # 8673) on :

Graham Dunsten Martin got me hooked on the idea of writing as a kid, but J.V. Jones' novels kicked my butt into gear and really got me going.

Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :

Right now, Lois McMaster Bujold. Hands down.

Posted by guess (Member # 9085) on :

Robert Jordan for the breadth of his series. I like the way he has ideas and legends from all kinds of different cultures then blends them together.

wheel of time is from hinduim
the dragon is a christ like character
taveren comes out of alot of religions
seanchen is a culture similiar to east asian cultures in the past
twists on the king arthur legend. Artur Hawking Paendrag and the sword in the stone, the stone is a fortress and the sword is a magic weapon.

stuff like that. He didn't stick to one set of legends or cultures in his world. I also like the depth and the layers of his writing.

Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :

Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Thomas Burnett Swann, and J. R. R. Tolkien remind me how good writing can be.

Others, who I won't name, remind me that I think I can write better than they can, no matter how interesting their stuff is.

Posted by genevive42 (Member # 8714) on :

Isaac Asimov and Octavia E. Butler.

In middle school, Asimov made me believe that I could write. Little did I know that his straightforward style that made me believe that was not nearly as easy as he made it look.

And more recently, Wild Seed made me want to take my writing to a new level. I saw how much more I could be doing and I think my writing has deepened because of it.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

George R. R. Martin, Steven Pressfield. If you lose hope that you will master all the details needed to tell a tale, look up to these guys. There are other authors but right now I can't think of any.

Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :

For me, Alastair Reynolds, William Gibson, and JRR Tolkien.

Posted by tchernabyelo (Member # 2651) on :

Roger Zelazny and Dorothy Dunnett.

Two more disparate writers it would be hard to find.

Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :

We go through these lists every so often. I have listed a great many in the past, but I'll try to be brief here:

Robert R. McCammon
Haprer Lee
George R. R. Martin
Robert E. Howard
Orson Scott Card
Brandon Sanderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Conn Iggulden
Steve Perry (the writer, not the singer)
Robert Heinlein
Robert Silverberg
Brent Weeks
Bernard Cornwell
Robert Low
Robert Ludlum
Brian Lumley
Dean R. Koontz
John Sandford
Patrick Rothfuss
John D. MacDonald
Robert Jordan (particularly his older stuff)
Jamie Ford
Jay Lake
John Scalzi
Aliette de Bodard
Mary Robinette Kowal

Though, in all honesty, I'm much more inspired by my fellow up-and-coming authors, fellow forum-mates who are questing for originality and those I've seen go on--through hard work--to success.

Posted by Pyre Dynasty (Member # 1947) on :

Ray Bradbury, Orson Scott Card, Tracy Hickman, Howard Tayler, Luis Sachar.

Posted by chalkdustfairy (Member # 9175) on :

Does anyone else find it interesting that very few of these names were duplicated?

Posted by Merlion-Emrys (Member # 7912) on :

J.R.R. Tolkien: I realize a lot of people don't like the way he writes and think his characters lack depth. I think his writing is beautiful, he created the single most rich and detailed fantasy world, and indeed the most beloved story in history, and to me his characters are like old friends. In many of the most stressful times in my life, in moments where I've felt lost, I go and read the Lothlorien portions of The Fellowship of the Ring. Galadriel always gets me back on track.

Ursula K. LeGuin: A Wizard of Earthsea is one of my all time favorite books. The School on Roke and its Nine Masters, along with LeGuins use of language have had a huge effect on me, as a writer and as a person (she's one of the writers who comes up most frequently when I put my stuff in the "I Write Like" thingy.)

H.P. Lovecraft: Huge influence on me as a writer especially. He's another one I know a lot of people today don't care for his style, but its the vision that counts. Interestingly in "I Write Like" little of my fiction comes up as him...but most of my blog posts and the like do. His influence on speculative fiction can't be overstated. Nobody does weird like him.

Ray Bradbury: I read "The October Country" every October. As I've gotten older there are some things about him I've come to...not like as much both in terms of his writing and his ideas but his style is amazing and "The Jar" will always be one of my favorite short stories. Big influence on my style (I once had a story rejected for being too much like Ray Bradbury, supposedly.)

Stephen King: Inventor of the horror novel and one of the bestselling writers ever. Sort of like the illegitimate love child of Lovecraft, Bradbury and Tolkien.

Simon Logan: One most folks probably haven't heard of. When I found his Industrial fiction, it was like someone turned on the light in a part of my mind that had always been there...the feelings, the atmosphere, but he gave it definite form. Some of my stories are directly inspired by his work...in a way. Sort of like he showed me what was possible and I began doing my own thing with it. He also gave me a little help in getting started submitting.

There are many other influences, but when someone asks a question like this these are the ones that spring to my mind. It may be off topic, but I'm also very strongly inspired by Anime and Japanese storytelling in general.

Posted by satate (Member # 8082) on :

If I am being completely honest, and I'm a little embarrassed to admit this, but Stephenie Meyer. It's not because I thought her writing was wonderful or even the books (though I did enjoy them) it was that she was someone I could relate to.

My husband had been bugging me to write for years but I was too scared and a little in awe of authors. But reading Stephenie's website and learning that she was a stay at home mom who hadn't written before with little kids and lived in Arizona like me, I thought, if she can do this then so can I.

I'm not going to list all the other authors that inspired me because they've already been listed.

Posted by MartinV (Member # 5512) on :

satate, I read all of the Twilight series and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm not much of a romance fan but I must confess I found Meyer's style interesting. I could see where she tried to do something, where she failed to do something else. I learned plenty.

Posted by DRaney on :

So I'm a late arrival in the OS Card camp... He shot way up to the top three of my picks with Enders Game and Enders Shadow.

Octavia Butler just blew me away with Wild Seed, Genevive. Blew Me Away!

I've just completed the fifth Jim Butcher, 'Dresden Files' story. Great storytelling, lots of fun.

I will forever have a soft spot for Rudyard Kipling, Herman Melville, Jules Verne...

Dare I throw RA Salvatore's name into the mix? Kinda DnD'esque but what a cool ride. He is one of my favorites on the lighter side of things.

My newest self appointed assignment for reading is; C.J. Cherryh. Anyone familiar with her? Any recommendations for her works?

Doug

Posted by Osiris (Member # 9196) on :

quote:
Does anyone else find it interesting that very few of these names were duplicated?

I sure do, I'm surprised the only author I listed that others did as well was Tolkien. Thats a given, but I thought more people would be into Gibson and Reynolds.

I also expected Stephen R. Donaldson to be mentioned at least once Oh look, I just mentioned him. Some more names for me:

I enjoy Vernon Vinge as well as Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.

Posted by SteveR (Member # 9128) on :

George R. R. Martin is an excellent scene crafter
Chris Barzak is great with mood and intricate layering
Orson Scott Card is an excellent storyteller
Stephen King is an interesting blend of genre and non-genre
Karen Joy Fowler manages such delicate recipes
Kelly Link is a blast of new genre
Octavia Butler was a treasure; I'll never forget reading "Bloodchild" in OMNI back in the day. It was that good.

There are many others, but these come to mind right now.

My wife, Susan Urbanek Linville, is my favorite of all :-) (Biased? Me?) I admire the way she writes so simply, yet manages an emotional punch nearly every time I read her work. It's all about story with her. I guess we admire what we have difficulty doing ourselves.

Posted by SteveR (Member # 9128) on :

C. J. Cherryh was my favorite author at one time and I adored her Downbelow Station series. How she manages to write scenes with tons of characters and yet not confuse me, is impressive. I'm less thrilled with her later work - it may just be that my tastes have moved on, though. She remains a very good writer.

Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash was like a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day when I read it. Amazing, glib, wonderfully imagined. He's in love with his voice, however, which put me off subsequent books. I'm told his Baroque Cycle is well worth reading and I'm working through Anathem now. It's a wonderfully complex world, but as much as I admire Stephenson's grant imagination, I find myself wishing he would cut his page count down a bit before publishing them.