Eight Writers that Influenced Me
Jun. 18th, 2008 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rxelyn... I have no frigging clue why I decided to write this. Good going, brain.
DAVID EDDINGS - PAWN OF PROPHECY
Once... there was a snot-nosed brat who thought that she wanted to read Sweet Valley books because that was what the other kids read too. (I was like 9 or 10 then...) But thanks to her brother who handed her the first book of the Belgariad series PAWN OF PROPHECY (probably on a whim) she was immediately so hooked that she devoured the entire series like 5 or 6 times. Seriously, I loved loved loved Polgara and when I moved on to his other series, I shipped TalenxDanae At least until my brother got fed up of seeing me re-read the Ruby Knight for the nth time. Yeah. In fact, David Eddings was where I got my sense of humor from, all the dry wit and banter to the bad jokes.
DIANA WYNNE JONES - FIRE AND HEMLOCK
I think I read this three or four times because I just didn't get it. Think I read this when I was 8? Yeah, my first forage in the YA section of the library. The story's now very rusty in my head... I just remember the main character's name is Polly. The rest? I know that the title Fire and Hemlock comes from a painting or something similar. That's all... heh.
JOHANNA LINDSEY
I stumbled onto badly written and stupidly plotted bodice rippers at the age of erm... 10 or 11. And was promptly fascinated because when you're a kid... the idea of adults in throes of passion are very intriguing and I quickly learned the many ways to describe golden/red/black hair and gorgeous/soulful/piercing eyes, etc. Yeah. I can't exactly remember the first book I read from her... it was borrowed from one of my neighbor... who I sort of adored as a kid because she was a damn brilliant person. We don't talk much now... but she's still pretty damn brilliant since she's going off to England to study on a free scholarship. I am so freaking jealous
ROBERT JORDAN - THE WHEEL OF TIME series
THE EYE OF THE WORLD was another book my brother chucked at me when I was around 11, not long after he was frustrated by me quoting dialogue from David Eddings. Haha. I must have been a trying kid. But I didn't really read it until I was in sec 1 because the book was just so... tedious. I don't know why, it wasn't really the thickness as it wasn't really that thick. I devoured books that size and more... it wasn't the plot exactly since I lived and breathed fantasy during that period. (I only read the fantasy genre. Seriously.) Anyway, I'm currently stuck on book 4 and the writer's dead now... so I'm not too sure whether I'm planning to continue since he hasn't finished the series when he died.
NEIL GAIMAN
I love this man. My first book from him was most probably GOOD OMENS with TERRY PRATCHETT whom I only read a handful of his DISCWORLD series because I didn't exactly get the joke in most of them. Then I discovered other stuff like CORALINE that scared me even though it's a kid book. And the SANDMAN series just had me hook, line and sinker at the characters. I love DEATH. She's the ultra cool. And MORPHEUS's like the emo. I think there wasn't really any works that I disliked from him, except for some short stories from Fragile Things.
DARREN SHAN - DEMONATA series
Even though he writes books from children, he's good. I was addicted to his DARREN SHAN series and during sec 3, I went to Choa Chu Kang library obsessively, that is nearly every single day just to find the next book, hoping that the people hogging the books would just return them already! Yeah, for now I'm hooked on the DEMONATA series and have influenced Faza into liking them as well. XD
ANNE MCCAFFREY - the DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN, the ACORNA series, the TALENT universe
Dragons. She wrote about dragons. What more can I say? I adored dragons from childhood. And I hated the stupid knights that thought dragon hunting was an enjoyable sport. A lot of her works also featured music, so I was immediately interested. But now I have no idea why I stopped reading her stuff... But she is the first sci-fi author that hooked me in. With her dragons! Later when I lost interest in the sci-fi genre, it was ENDER'S GAME by ORSON SCOTT CARD that revived that dying interest.
LAURELL K. HAMILTON - ANITA BLAKE series
Even though I cannot stand her books now, I was madly in love with the series in the beginning. She had a kick ass character, and a to-die-for vampire. In the beginning, she was a realistic character, and even though there were times I wanted to whack her, I was mainly on her side. Until in every single book, there were more sex scenes than action. Damnit, I'm reading this book for the cool, occult action not for the pron, alright? If I wanted supernatural pron, there's tons of other books. And... just what's with her harem of men dying to lick her feet and all?! And with all the new powers she's unveiling in every book or so? The realistic factor is like disappearing... But yes, the series on the whole have influenced me greatly. To the point that I dare not venture beyond the first few pages of Malicious Intentions. Because I'm afraid that this baby of mine will just become another work similar to hers. The formula's nearly identical too... x.x
Once... there was a snot-nosed brat who thought that she wanted to read Sweet Valley books because that was what the other kids read too. (I was like 9 or 10 then...) But thanks to her brother who handed her the first book of the Belgariad series PAWN OF PROPHECY (probably on a whim) she was immediately so hooked that she devoured the entire series like 5 or 6 times. Seriously, I loved loved loved Polgara and when I moved on to his other series, I shipped TalenxDanae At least until my brother got fed up of seeing me re-read the Ruby Knight for the nth time. Yeah. In fact, David Eddings was where I got my sense of humor from, all the dry wit and banter to the bad jokes.
DIANA WYNNE JONES - FIRE AND HEMLOCK
I think I read this three or four times because I just didn't get it. Think I read this when I was 8? Yeah, my first forage in the YA section of the library. The story's now very rusty in my head... I just remember the main character's name is Polly. The rest? I know that the title Fire and Hemlock comes from a painting or something similar. That's all... heh.
JOHANNA LINDSEY
I stumbled onto badly written and stupidly plotted bodice rippers at the age of erm... 10 or 11. And was promptly fascinated because when you're a kid... the idea of adults in throes of passion are very intriguing and I quickly learned the many ways to describe golden/red/black hair and gorgeous/soulful/piercing eyes, etc. Yeah. I can't exactly remember the first book I read from her... it was borrowed from one of my neighbor... who I sort of adored as a kid because she was a damn brilliant person. We don't talk much now... but she's still pretty damn brilliant since she's going off to England to study on a free scholarship. I am so freaking jealous
ROBERT JORDAN - THE WHEEL OF TIME series
THE EYE OF THE WORLD was another book my brother chucked at me when I was around 11, not long after he was frustrated by me quoting dialogue from David Eddings. Haha. I must have been a trying kid. But I didn't really read it until I was in sec 1 because the book was just so... tedious. I don't know why, it wasn't really the thickness as it wasn't really that thick. I devoured books that size and more... it wasn't the plot exactly since I lived and breathed fantasy during that period. (I only read the fantasy genre. Seriously.) Anyway, I'm currently stuck on book 4 and the writer's dead now... so I'm not too sure whether I'm planning to continue since he hasn't finished the series when he died.
NEIL GAIMAN
I love this man. My first book from him was most probably GOOD OMENS with TERRY PRATCHETT whom I only read a handful of his DISCWORLD series because I didn't exactly get the joke in most of them. Then I discovered other stuff like CORALINE that scared me even though it's a kid book. And the SANDMAN series just had me hook, line and sinker at the characters. I love DEATH. She's the ultra cool. And MORPHEUS's like the emo. I think there wasn't really any works that I disliked from him, except for some short stories from Fragile Things.
DARREN SHAN - DEMONATA series
Even though he writes books from children, he's good. I was addicted to his DARREN SHAN series and during sec 3, I went to Choa Chu Kang library obsessively, that is nearly every single day just to find the next book, hoping that the people hogging the books would just return them already! Yeah, for now I'm hooked on the DEMONATA series and have influenced Faza into liking them as well. XD
ANNE MCCAFFREY - the DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN, the ACORNA series, the TALENT universe
Dragons. She wrote about dragons. What more can I say? I adored dragons from childhood. And I hated the stupid knights that thought dragon hunting was an enjoyable sport. A lot of her works also featured music, so I was immediately interested. But now I have no idea why I stopped reading her stuff... But she is the first sci-fi author that hooked me in. With her dragons! Later when I lost interest in the sci-fi genre, it was ENDER'S GAME by ORSON SCOTT CARD that revived that dying interest.
LAURELL K. HAMILTON - ANITA BLAKE series
Even though I cannot stand her books now, I was madly in love with the series in the beginning. She had a kick ass character, and a to-die-for vampire. In the beginning, she was a realistic character, and even though there were times I wanted to whack her, I was mainly on her side. Until in every single book, there were more sex scenes than action. Damnit, I'm reading this book for the cool, occult action not for the pron, alright? If I wanted supernatural pron, there's tons of other books. And... just what's with her harem of men dying to lick her feet and all?! And with all the new powers she's unveiling in every book or so? The realistic factor is like disappearing... But yes, the series on the whole have influenced me greatly. To the point that I dare not venture beyond the first few pages of Malicious Intentions. Because I'm afraid that this baby of mine will just become another work similar to hers. The formula's nearly identical too... x.x
