I have always been interested in how a book develops. To me an author’s background is a critical element. Who that author is and the kind of experiences that author has had will inevitably influence what that author writes. However, everyone may not agree. Let’s take a look at what some of my fellow authors in fantasy and urban fantasy/paranormal have to say about their influences.
(If any of the books catches your eye, clicking on the cover takes you to the Amazon product page for more information.)
Laura Greenwood
About Laura:
I like to write whichever weird and wonderful tale comes into my head, which makes identifying the genre difficult even for me! My first series, Alventia, are novellas centred around Keira, aka Sleeping Beauty, and her Prince Philip, along with their allies Hansel and Gretel. It’s a tale that very much told itself as I started to write it!
While I’m not writing, I work in Catering and am also an Assistant Brownie Guide Leader in the Midlands (UK). I like to bake and I love to read, and like with my writing, I read an eclectic mix of genres, and love every minute of it!
You can keep up to date with any of my writing progress by signing up to my Newsletter here: https://goo.gl/A3tI1s.
How Have Laura’s Experiences Influenced her Writing?
Most of the time, not that much. Other than places I’ve been inspiring me in some way (like visiting the Red Light district in Amsterdam, that was the main influence behind a dystopia I’m writing, though maybe not in the obvious way).
But with What Lies Beneath the Mask, there’s much more of my life experience in it. There’s a couple of in-jokes for my best friend in there (masquerading as in jokes between Hayley and Annabelle! And one of the stage hands, Susan). Also some of the issues that Annabelle has trusting Jack and moving forward in their relationship have roots in my own experiences (though I put Annabelle through far worse than I experienced).
For More Information about Laura:
http://www.authorlauragreenwood.co.uk
http://facebook.com/authorlauragreenwood/
http://twitter.com/lauramg_tdir
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7788024.Laura_Greenwood
Kay L. Ling
About Kay:
Kay L. Ling began writing fiction at an early age. In grade school, her stories evidenced a sense of wonder and love of adventure. In one, mythical creatures lived and traveled inside a rainbow, and in another, a bored sixth-grader turned her teacher into a maroon sofa and then teleported herself to London. As she grew up, Kay never lost her ability to imagine strange and wondrous peoples and places, and now she would like to share her unique fantasy adventures with others.
How Have Kay’s Experiences Influenced Her Writing?
I’ve always loved to travel, so I like to invent new worlds to explore. Other interests, such as gems and their folklore, worked their way into my book as well. Writing that includes personal experiences or themes that touch the author can be very powerful.
For More Information about Kay:
https://www.facebook.com/KayLLing.author
Steve Vernon
About Steve:
“If Harlan Ellison, Richard Matheson and Robert Bloch had a three-way sex romp in a hot tub, and then a team of scientists came in and filtered out the water and mixed the leftover DNA into a test tube, the resulting genetic experiment would most likely grow up into Steve Vernon.” – Bookgasm
How Have Steve’s Experiences Influenced His Writing?
That’s a little like asking how can you make soup without onions. Your own experiences are the grist for any story or novel that you write – even if it is set somewhere wild and crazy such as the North Pole, or a Martian spaceship, or a field full of evil-possessed scarecrows.
Stay tuned for responses from more authors in the coming days.
Awakening is gorgeous.
This was a great post, thank you so much for sharing this! It is always fun to see what influences an author to write! 🙂
Very interesting, thank you 🙂
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing…
It is always nice to read more about the authors that you admire.Thank you.
I have always wondered what influences authors to write what they do! They have to have a good bit of natural imagination and motivation, but it’s very interesting to see what influences different authors. Very interesting post.
gorgeous post
I too always wanted to be a writer…at the age of 5 I read the Iliad and the Odyssey..and have been a voracious reader all my life. I have won the Golden Poets Award from world of Poetry, the Best new Poet award and had a text, which I did not submit, published in an anthology at University. While there I wrote a 400+ page fiction loosely based on an occurrence at the time. I still have it in a case in my bedroom, and though I have been very often..even to this day..told to publish…I never have submitted it. I spent 35 years as an accountant…and hold in my heart what might have been. Congratulations on your endeavors.
Thanks!
If it were me, I’d be awfully tempted to dust off that novel and try to do something with it. Obviously, you put a lot of effort into its composition. Why speculate about what might have been? It’s never too late…
Love this post so true!