My friend Elyse Sussman Salpeter challenged me to list 10 books in my status that have affected me in some way. She said not to think too long or hard about it. They dont have to be the right books or great literature. Then Im supposed to tag 10 friends to do the same. Here are mine, with my reasons on how they shaped me. 1.101 Dalmations, by Dodie Smith. I finished reading this (the real novel, not the kiddie Disney adaptations) when I was nine years old, and looked around for something similar to read. Not immediately finding anything, it dawned on me that I could WRITE MY OWN STORIES! Several very imitative works about gerbils followed, but since then I have always known that I wanted to be a writer. 2. Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. My Aunt Iris gave me this book when I was 11. This was the source--the literary one, anyway--of my wanting and trying to be a good person. Not to mention Jo was a heroine with whom I could truly identify. 3. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkein. This trilogy, along with its precursor The Hobbit, was given to me for Christmas when I was in the 8th grade by Carol Schoendorf and Mike Schoendorf. This was a particularly miserable time in my life, recounted fairly accurately in my middle school book, Confessions of a Mixed-Up Weasel Hater, and I needed the escape BADLY. It also made me want to write fantasy, and epic good vs. evil struggles... were still waiting to see how this works out! Not to mention I made some of my best, life-long friends (Jeanne Willgrubs, Ronelva Gietzen, Robert McDonald) based on shared enthusiasm for this. 4. The Vampire LeStat, by Anne Rice. Robert McDonald turned me on to this one. Indulges my secret (not so secret?) desire to live forever. 5. Holy Blood, Holy Grail--another recommendation from Mr. McDonald. This book proposes the theory that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene and had kids, descendants of whom walk among us today. Call me heretic all you want, but this resonates with me deeply and makes Jesus seem much more accessible to me. Honorable mentions here to The DaVinci Code and The Expected One for expanding on this theme. 6. The Outlander series, by Diana Gabaldon. I love the way her work turned the romance genre on its head, and yet at the same time, is deeply romantic. For example, the heroine is older than the hero, and he is a virgin when they meet. Also, I read Dragonfly in Amber, the second book in the series, while I was pregnant with one of my kids (dont remember which, arent I a terrible mother?), and it made me vow I would never kill off an infant or a child in anything I wrote. 7. Skye OMalley, by Beatrice Small--and all the various sequels involving Skye and her descendants. Historical romance novels, set in Elizabethan times and after; big influence, along with Ms. Gabaldon (and also Karleen Koens Through a Glass Darkly) on the kind of historical romance I like to write. 8. The Harry Potter books. Marks great aunt Helen gave the kids the first book when they were too young to read it for themselves. I read it to them, and we continued to share each book as it came out, a wonderful bonding experience. Also, it is my personal belief that Severus Snape is the most tragic romantic figure since Heathcliff (the one in Wuthering Heights, not the really fat comic cat). Others have told me how they cried when Dumbledore died; I was up at 2AM reading when Snape was et by a snake, and the subsequent memory he gave to Harry--I cried like a baby. 9. Jude the Obscure, by Thomas Hardy. So abjectly miserable that I threw the book across the room--but still had to finish it for a college class. 10. The entire Pendergast series, by Preston and Child, because how could I possibly choose just one? Yet I have to say I was most deeply affected by the Diogenes trilogy. I fell in love with a brilliant, witty serial killer, doomed by a terrible accident, further warped by a epic misunderstanding. I saw that the villains in my own writing were far too pale and one-dimensional. Not to mention all the truly wonderful friends I have made through my love of these books! My tag thingy isnt working in the body of this, so Ill make my tags in a comment.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:55:26 +0000