Continuing on with my #booksthatmademe series, here’s the first book I ever read by an author who ended up being a huge influence on me: BEAUTY, by Robin McKinley. . I first discovered this book in my middle school library, and since “Beauty and the Beast” had always been one of my favorite fairy tales, I figured I’d give it a try. But I was unprepared for the magic McKinley wove over me, not only with her gorgeous writing style but by taking a story I thought I knew inside and out, and telling it back to me in a whole new way. . BEAUTY was the first fairy tale retelling I ever read that didn’t just expand on the old story but dared to alter and add to it in some surprisingly radical ways. Beauty not actually being beautiful or elegant, but a plain bookworm? Her sisters being loving and generous instead of selfish and vain? Subplots involving brand-new characters interacting with the old ones? Who knew you could change so much about “Beauty and the Beast” while still preserving and respecting all the things I’d loved most about the story in the first place? . The next McKinley book to make a big impression on me was THE DOOR IN THE HEDGE, her collection of short stories. Again, I was entranced by her lovely turns of phrase, her liberal use of semicolons (a habit I picked up immediately in my own writing, even though it took me a while to learn how to use them the right way), and her rich fantastical imagination. She was one of the first authors who made me think about my own writing style and what I wanted it to be like — and for most of my teens and well into my twenties, my answer was emphatically, “I want to write like HER.” . Q: Of all the authors you’ve read, whose writing style do you enjoy most? If you’re a writer, which authors had the biggest influence on your own prose style? . . . #beautyandthebeast #fairytaleretelling #robinmckinley #bookstagram #books #bibliophile #igreads #bookish #booklover #booknerd #reading #readingaddict #yabooks #booksofinsta #mybookfeatures #alwaysreading #ilovereading #booksofinstagram #writinginfluences https://www.instagram.com/p/B-Sd7PdgRhs/?igshid=6m2xd97n7ctq
Today’s entry for the #booksthatmademe is the second in Ursula LeGuin’s classic Earthsea trilogy (or series if you count the books that were added years later), which I bought as a boxed set and read multiple times as a teen. . I loved the first book, A WIZARD OF EARTHSEA, but it was the second that really grabbed me — it was one of my first encounters with a book centered around the Heroine’s Journey rather than the traditional Hero’s. At a time when most epic fantasies were about boys becoming Great Men, it meant a lot to me to read a fantasy novel that treated a woman’s experiences as being meaningful and important, without forcing her to act like or pretend to be a boy in the process. . THE TOMBS OF ATUAN is the story of a proud, icy young priestess named Arha, whose soul has been ritually “eaten” by the Nameless Ones she serves and whose domain is a pitch-black labyrinth no one but she can enter. Until one day a heretic sorcerer comes seeking a lost treasure, and Arha finds him in the midst of her sacred tomb. The slow shift of Arha’s feelings from outrage to curiosity and finally compassion was fascinating to me, and because I knew who the sorcerer was from the previous book, I was deeply invested in his part of the story as well. I loved the way their relationship developed, and the way Arha grew and changed because of it. But I also loved the respect and gentleness that Ged showed toward Arha, and his willingness to share his wisdom with her. It was definitely a Relationship Goals kind of book for me. . It’s probably for that reason that I found the eventual fourth book TEHANU, which expounds on what happened to Ged and Arha/Tenar years later, quite upsetting. To me it felt like a betrayal of the narrative promise I’d been given at the end of ATUAN — so while I own a copy of TEHANU, I’ve never worked up the will to read it a second time. But I still love ATUAN and come back to it every few years. In fact, just writing this makes me want to take it out and read it again. . . . #earthsea #thetombsofatuan #ursulakleguin #bookstagram #books #bibliophile #igreads #bookish #booklover #booknerd #reading #readingaddict #writinginfluences https://www.instagram.com/p/B-h_2HAA139/?igshid=9elzhx2kk7xd
Another one-volume collection of #thebooksthatmademe — Susan Cooper’s five-book THE DARK IS RISING sequence. . The first time I read these books at 13, I wasn’t sure how to feel about many of them. The pacing seemed slow, the atmosphere a bit creepy, and the magic felt more pagan and/or humanistic than I was comfortable with. Plus the books’ treatment of Christianity ranged from patronizing (ie. the church scene in THE DARK IS RISING) to outright dismissive (Merriman’s “You may not lie idly expecting the second coming of anybody now” in SILVER ON THE TREE), which I didn’t care for at all. . That being said, though, I have a lifelong fascination with Arthuriana in general and the character of Merlin in particular, so I was drawn in by that aspect of the story. I also developed a bit of a tween crush on both Will Stanton and Bran Davies. And the fourth book, THE GREY KING, sparked a deep fascination with Wales and the Welsh language that has lingered with me ever since. . It would be another ten years before I got the chance to visit northern Wales and see the rugged beauty of Snowdonia for myself, but Susan Cooper’s rich descriptions made me feel like I’d already been there. And when I wrote my second book REBEL in 2009, I was immediately drawn to Welsh folklore as a way of further deepening and expanding my faery world — which gave me the perfect excuse to go back to Wales with my husband on our 10th anniversary, and take the same journey my young protagonists were taking in the book. It turned out to be quite an adventure, but a wonderful one! I’d love to go back to Wales someday. . TELL ME: Have you ever been inspired to travel to a place you’ve read about in a book? Did it live up to your expectations? . . . #susancooper #thedarkisrising #thedarkisrisingsequence #thegreyking #bookstagram #books #bibliophile #igreads #bookish #booklover #booknerd #reading #readingaddict #mybookfeatures #alwaysreading #ilovereading #booksofinstagram #writinginfluences https://www.instagram.com/p/B-xdcbEACTE/?igshid=60mxc9nhhc6l
More #authorlifemonth - now it’s Day 6: Inspirations. I chose to interpret it as the books, movies and music that inspired me most as a young writer and eventually had an influence on my published books, so here’s a little glimpse of the ingredients that went into Writer Rebecca. After I’d made these images I realized I’d left out Tolkien by mistake, but let’s take him as a given, shall we? #writersofinstagram #writerlife #writinginfluences https://www.instagram.com/p/B8SLfR0JntN/?igshid=9hgbkw81tz1k
How old was I when I first read Peter S. Beagle’s THE LAST UNICORN? Not that young — I must have been twelve or thirteen at least — but I really can’t remember. I can’t even remember where I found it, or how. It feels like it’s been one of #thebooksthatmademe forever. . I tried reading a few other books by Beagle, but none of them set fire to my imagination or captured my heart the way UNICORN did. There’s just something about the fairytale setting, the mythic scope, the wry wit and solemn poetry of the language, that makes this story unique for me. Beagle’s sheer genius with metaphor and simile, the ease with which he juggles piercing, otherworldly beauty with the homely and comical and mundane, is breathtaking. And he strikes such a wonderful balance with character — the remote elegance of the unicorn and the Lady Amalthea would be admirable but hard to love if it weren’t for the much more down-to-earth earnestness and human follies of Schmendrick the wizard, Molly Grue, and Prince Lir. . There’s a movie too, of course, and the screenplay’s better than average because it was written by Beagle himself. It’s not a bad watch if you don’t mind Rankin-Bass’s peculiar, somewhat dated style of animation and the occasionally sub-par singing. But it’s not good enough to merely watch this story acted out, not when the words Peter S. Beagle used to tell it are so marvellous. . THE LAST UNICORN is beautiful and funny and majestic and silly and melancholy and poignant and hopeful all at once, and it will break your heart in the best way. If you love fantasy and you haven’t read this book, please do. . . . #thelastunicorn #thelastunicornmovie #petersbeagle #fantasy #unicorn #bookstagram #books #bibliophile #igreads #bookish #booklover #booknerd #reading #readingaddict #mybookfeatures #alwaysreading #ilovereading #booksofinstagram #writinginfluences https://www.instagram.com/p/B-nFpcdAcLZ/?igshid=13zeddeks0u8s
Romance Lessons with Edgar Rice Burroughs, Yaoi Manga, and Chinese Dramas
Stop looking at me like that, I’m sure you’re thinking WTF? I would be too, if I hadn’t lived it. But they are the hugest influences on the romances you find in my writing. If you find any of my stories romantic (and since some of them are, y'know, romances, I hope you do) then these are the source of that.
Nobody does romance like Burroughs. Which most people reading this will probably think sounds crazy. Just let me ask, though: Have you ever read Tarzan? No, not watched it, read it. Well, you have to get past the dark parts of the story first. Scalps getting ripped; attempted cannibalism. And that would be the ape tearing Tarzan’s scalp, and the European Count who’s more than willing to resort to cannibalism to survive being adrift on the ocean. Bet you didn’t even know that was in there, did you? I had no idea how dark the tale was myself until I picked it up in my early twenties. Sure, I knew Tarzan, I thought. I’d watched the movies after all. Oh, wow, how innocent every movie has ever made the story seem.
Burroughs writing is not innocent. His stories are dark and raw and breathtaking. Tarzan kills an ape with his bare hands, and Jane kisses him for it. Modern heroines be damned, Jane had more balls than half of them.
But Tarzan isn’t even my favorite of Burroughs romances. That honor is reserved for David Innes and Dian the Beautiful. Pellucidar. My favorite book of all time. Given it was written in 1915, once again modern heroines could learn from Dian. Heck, modern romance needs to stop being so squishy and remember how to be honestly romantic. When a book from 1915 has the male lead realizing who someone who’s come to help them is by thinking along the lines of: “This was Dian, my Dian, fiercely attacking anyone who dared to threaten her mate”, how can you not be delighted? Dian kicked ass, she attacked a freaking Carnivorous Dinosaur to protect David. And David’s thoughts toward the end of the book that he doesn’t care if he fails at his goals or loses his title as King cuz he has the greatest gift of all, Dian? Be still my heart.
These were romance where neither party were weak and clingy, and yet both were very human. Given to mistakes, jealousy, and pride. They were awesome. And, eff, I wanted my romances to be that awesome.
You’re probably thinking, Yaoi manga taught you romance? But, it’s true. Once again, at least the ones I liked anyhow, you had two people with flaws. They made mistakes, they got jealous, they were downright petty at times, and they kept effin loving each other. Gender of romantic couples didn’t matter half as much as the story itself. And the stories were captivating, and the romances were fantastic. Through trials, tribulations, and occasionally very dark plotlines (sensing a theme?), the two characters would come to realize how much they loved each other and wanted to be there for the one another. They influenced each other’s lives and how they chose to live it. They supported one another during their darkest hours, and laughed together during the better ones. There was a realism to that lacking in a lot of romantic fiction.
Chinese Drama romances are epic. And I mean that. Epic Romance. They manage to have a romance without making you feel that is all there is to the story, but also avoid the feeling of - oh, they threw a romance in? Chinese Drama romances are interwoven into the story. Just as important as the rest of the tale, because character A wouldn’t be there, or wouldn’t have come to understand things about themselves or the world without the romance they share with character B. Yet never letting it overtake the story to the point that the rest of the plot becomes secondary.
Both characters are usually put through hell on earth, tortured, separated, feel betrayed by each other, and reunited. And there’s a catch phrase. There’s always a freakin’ catch phrase, or fancy line, or promise, that comes back later. It’s promised, it’s broken, it’s re-promised. It’s… chinese dramas have some of the best romances you’ll ever get from TV. Period. (Um…conversely, it also has the worst. You do not want to get me started about Return of the Condor Heroes. That’s not love, that’s psychosis. Duel Yandere… or something…)
So betwixt all these influences, the bottom line came down to…put your characters through hell, don’t make either party a useless clinger, make the romance part of the plot not just a tag on, and don’t forget that - in the end - Love Conquers All. Cheesy as the last colloquialism is. We’re all suckers for it in the end.
And if that isn’t the weirdest mix in the world, I can’t say what is. Turned out I always watched Animes, I just never knew it. (Starblazers; Battle of the Planets; etc.) Then one year the Sci-Fi Channel played their first Anime Marathon. Salmon, meet Venus Wars, Akira, and Demon City Shinjuku. Damn. There was no going back after that. It was a combination I loved. (Already having a love of cartoons and comic books.) Beautiful artwork, and wonderful mixes of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Paranormal, combined with wonderful storytelling. What did they have over regular cartoons and comic books? An ending. A concrete story that had a beginning, middle, and ending. While Cartoons and comics gave me characters I loved, the story had no end. They tended to be The Adventures of These Characters. At times, plots got mixed up or dropped because it just kept going. Anime and Manga avoided that because they always came to a conclusion.
Oh, and ever wondered what might have happened if…? Welcome to Alternate Universes. (Oh, comics had introduced me to those too, but Anime and Manga like to use and abuse them mercilessly.) Fell in love, never looked back. Period.
What did I learn? End it. Plot THE END. Capital letters.
Michael Crichton. I own almost every book he’s ever written. There is probably only two to three authors I would honestly say that about. What made them so amazing to me? Well, if History was my Ds, then Science was my As. I loved Science. And Michael Crichton’s books are full of them. While I have read reviews that never stop bemoaning how his use of charts, scientific terms, and habit of over-explain bog down the story, that was part of what made me love his work. See that chart? Damn it, in 200 pages, you’re going to kick yourself, cuz that chart told you the secret of the book. Foreshadowing in your face, and you didn’t even realize it.
Research, how the man researched! You got real info, it was just weaved into some of the best writing I’ve ever read. Characters that were flawed, but that you had to like, mysteries that you had to unravel, and chilling paranormal “What Ifs?”.
Crichton had a huge affect on my writing. Research, damn it, research! And remember that bit about the end? Hey, if you know it while writing page 5 then you could hint at it and nobody would be the wiser until page 225.
A few years back on LJ I wrote about what had influenced my writing the most. It still remains relevant to this day so I thought I should reblog it.
A Trip Through a Wardrobe, UFOs, and Things That Go Bump in the Night
My oldest influence has to be my love of fantasy, sci-fi, and the paranormal.
From the Hobbit, to Narnia, to the Last Unicorn, to the original Dragonlance Trilogy. Fantasy was my first love. Movie-wise, Willow comes to mind, as well as The Never Ending Story, Krull, Troll, and The Princess Bride. They were bedtime stories when I was little, and the movies I begged to watch over and over and over again. So they’ve definitely had a lasting influence on the kind of stories I like to read and write. Someday I will write an epic fantasy. Just wait. LOL
Sci-Fi was no less present, though in the form of movies and tv shows greater than books. Dr Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica, and Buck Rogers. Babylon 5, Jurassic Park, The Last Star Fighter, and Space Raiders. Those are just to name a few. I could also list cartoon influences as well. Exo-Squad, Invasion America, Thundercats, Transformers, Go-Bots, and Xyber 9: New Dawn all come to mind. Book-wise, there’s always The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, and a smattering of books like The Time Machine, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and War of the Worlds.
They aren’t concrete influences. Nothing I can point at and say - that was what made me want to write. Or that’s why I write this way. But it was by reading and watching all these that I came to love what I’ll refer to as the Art of Storytelling. What any of these may or may not lack in others minds when it comes to Writing, I adore because they tell a Story that you never forget.
Paranormal isn’t so much something I watched or read. Not in the way I can list the above. Sure, I can say I watched X-Files, Watcher in the Woods, and The Lady in White. But that was because I was already drawn to it. I guess I’m the kid who never outgrew ghost stories. Some of the people may remember shows like Sightings. The older Unsolved Mysteries. The original version of Ripley’s Believe It or Not. It was by watching these that I came to find a fascination with mysteries and the paranormal. The things that can never be fully explained. But like my love of storytelling, my love of the paranormal and mysteries was a general influence. All encompassing rather than specific.
Every War Has Two Sides
When I was a kid, my least favorite subject was history. Given that I’m a self-proclaimed history nut, you’re probably all looking at me like I’m crazy. Salmon, you don’t shut up about history. You research for fanfics, right? Oh, but I hated history as a kid. Only Cs and Ds I ever got outside of Gym class. Bored me to tears. Then I had a World History Teacher in Middle School. She didn’t turn me into a History Nut, but she did profoundly affect my view of history, and through it my writing.
Two incidents come to mind, and one was when we were discussing what we had now that they did without in the past. No lightbulbs. It sounds funny, but seriously, that was a discussion. They didn’t have lightbulbs. They had lanterns and candles. And, being obnoxious 7th graders, one of us called them stupid. The class laughed. But, whoa, did we get put in our place. When our teacher asked how many of us in the room could make a lightbulb. If we were plucked out of our comfy, modern homes, and dropped in the Middle Ages. Could we build a lightbulb? You never saw a group of school kids shut up so fast. And my teacher told us that it looked like we weren’t any smarter than the people who lived in that age, so maybe try to have a bit more respect.
The second time was a simple thought she left us with one day while discussing the numerous wars that had occurred. Every War has two sides she told us, and history is written by the victor. It was a profound thought. That the wars we were studying we only really knew by how the side that won wrote about it. What would the other side write? What didn’t we know about because they never did? To this day, I think that has definitely influenced my view of history, and how I craft my stories. I guess I discovered that life wasn’t black and white, just shades of grey.
