Books That Influenced Me as a Writer

Secrets - The Steamship Chronicles, Book OneOn a writing list I belong to, the question of literary influences came up. This is normally an impossible one for me to answer because there were so many, but I came up with the requested five as requested. I’m sharing them here because what came out of this list is just how much these early reads have influence not just my life but the themes that drive my stories.

Rudyard Kipling, Jungle Book for one, but really his poetry, the Just So stories and all. These are the ones I remember my father reading to me and my sisters from before I really connected what he was doing with reading. (There’s a long story behind why, one that has grown more complicated as I’ve learned about my reading differences.)

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series. This series and Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern I credit with the reason why I didn’t give up on reading all together. I started reading them because my older sister forced me, but I kept on for the blend of culture and different abilities. These were books that epitomized storytelling and helped bridge the gap between reading to and reading myself. (I was six or seven at this point thanks to that long story mentioned above.)

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. This is a children’s biography of Nathaniel Bowditch who invented some of the most important sailing tools of his time, but it starts with his apprenticeship and reads like a story. I’d been forced by a school assignment to read a biography, and for the longest while, I thought it was misfiled. This may also be what led to me reading Hornblower and I know for sure this book was a strong influence on my steampunk adventure series of which I just released the first book, Secrets. The second of the two main characters is named Nathaniel Bowden as a nod to Bowditch. Here’s a quick overview of his life. For those of you embarking on The Steamship Chronicles, you’ll find another homage to Nathaniel Bowditch in Book Two as well. The element is mentioned in Book One but only in passing. In Book Two, it becomes critical.

Le Morte d’Arthur. Yes, I mean that spelling since I read a translation of the original French poems first in these crumbling mini leather books my mother had. The poem is a lot more complicated and less black and white than most of the retellings, but it infused in me a strong sense of loyalty and nobility of purpose, along with the fact that those are not easy and require a constant struggle. I see that reflected in half a dozen characters who must choose between right and law, or who have slipped and must decide whether to sacrifice for the truth or give in to the dark. For example, Trina, in Shafter, may have been a thief to support her family, but when she gets mixed up with her grandfather, she has some big decisions to make.

Pride and Prejudice would have to be the last but not least. Jane Austen was a master in revealing the arrogance and ignorance in each of us, but making those characteristics redeemable with the right incentive. This is reflected in my Regency romances for sure, but the concept that we are our own worst enemies and also our best hopes infects pretty much all my writing.

Other books helped form my way of thinking and show up in my writing, but these sent out their tendrils in the very start, and continue to influence how I approach the world.

What are some books that helped establish the person you have become? What did you distill from their tales that has stuck with you? Have you read any of my list yet? Did you see the same elements?

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2 Responses to Books That Influenced Me as a Writer

  1. EB McGaffey says:

    There’s a book, Space Cadet, that I read ages ago. I don’t remember the whole story but I remember the first test he had to pass. To prove their kinetic sense, the cadets had to close their eyes and drop clothes pins into milk bottles on the floor. Our hero only got 1 out of 12, and commented to the instructor that it would be very easy to do better by opening his eyes a little. The instructor’s comment: Yes, but you don’t know what we are testing, do you?

    And Little Women of course–I simply wanted to be Jo.

    Oh, and Hans Brinker which I’ve reread and I don’t know why I was so entranced the first time. But again there is the theme of doing what you have to do to get to where you want to be.

    I’m sure there are two more, but I can’t think of them now.

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      Yes and yes :). I can’t remember if I’ve read Hans Brinker, but I’ve had that experience with some books I loved when I read them.

      Oh, and Space Cadet is a Heinlein juvenile. I need to reread those because I loved them all.

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