Modern Good Reads discussion

We all have them--idols, authors we aspire to rise to the level of, authors that have inspired us, maybe even planted the seeds of our own writing careers. Let us know below who inspired you, or what author is your idol.

Well, Robert A. Hunt inspired me to start writing, and Amanda Hocking inspired me to publish them:)

I was on this faster than you can say 'Neil Gaiman'. I love his expansive and evocative worlds and all the strong, ordinary characters.

Alexandre Dumas is another one. I hope to achieve that kind of crackling adventure and thoughtfulness in my books one day.

JA Konrath
Lindsay Buroker
Stephen King
Robert A Heinlein
Laurell K. Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Christopher Moore
Douglas Adams
Dean Koontz

I am sure I could come up with more if I wanted to.

:)

Anne Rice (all time favorite)
Sherilyn Kenyon
JR Ward
Gena Showalter

these four ladies definitely showed me that it was ok to push the envelope with writing. I originally censored myself a lot or tried to force characters to be something they weren't (i.e straight when they're just not hetero at all). Anne Rice's Vampire chronicles are my favorite series of all time and pretty much every character she wrote was bisexual. Reading all of them pretty much let me know that characters are what they are and there's no need to force it, just let them tell their story their way.

My idol is James Patterson. His short-length chapters, constant dialogue, and detailed descriptions is what keeps me hooked to his books. In addition, he always keeps you guessing and hanging on by the edge of your seat. You can't help but to finish his books as soon as possible.

He is the reason why I decided to start writing novels. Thank you and I wish you all the best!

Antonello Fiore
Author of, Killer Rumors

J.K. Rowling is phenomenal. Her story is inspiring - a true rags to riches tale. I love her perseverance and dedication to her craft. No one has inspired me like she has. I read every book to my children when they were younger and enjoyed the stories just as much as they did. What goes on inside her head is astounding. She is my idol!

Today I'd have to say PD James and Ruth Rundell (writing as Barbara Vine) becausethese were the authors I first read as a teenager and they got me into psychological crime.

On another day I'd have to say Margaret Atwood for Robber Bride and Blind Assassin and Kate Atkinson for the literary bit of me.

Later in the week I'd say Stephen King and maybe Wilkie Collins or George Owell.

Can I have Enid Blyton too?

Is this a bit of a weird list? :)



I

I have to say JK Rowling is mine too. She's a genius and her books take me away, they are such a joy to read. And that she came from nothing. Gives me a little hope that maybe one of my books will be big someday.

Mercedes wrote: "I have to say JK Rowling is mine too. She's a genius and her books take me away, they are such a joy to read. And that she came from nothing. Gives me a little hope that maybe one of my books will ..."

I want her too. When HP first came out I really wanted to be sceptical and say 'huh, don't believe the hype.' Then I read it and it was excellent! Shut up me!

Robert Heinlein. It's fascinating to read through his stories and see how his world view changed as he aged. Some of his books' themes contrast so sharply that you might believe they were written by different authors. Starship Troopers, you can picture it being written by a whiskey-drinking ex marine--whereas Stranger in a Strange Land could've been written by a hippie (and was read by many). I love the guy.

Thomas wrote: "Robert Heinlein. It's fascinating to read through his stories and see how his world view changed as he aged. Some of his books' themes contrast so sharply that you might believe they were written b..."

I've never read any of his. I'vevread a lot of Philip K Dick , Ray Bradbury and Joe Haldeman but no Heinlein. Which would be a good one to start with, do you think?

I prefer Starship Troopers, but that may be my military background speaking. If you want a more liberal theme(and an equally entertaining one), Stranger in a Strange Land. Great books, I read them over and over.

Thomas wrote: "I prefer Starship Troopers, but that may be my military background speaking. If you want a more liberal theme(and an equally entertaining one), Stranger in a Strange Land. Great books, I read them ..."

Thanks, I'll give them a whirl!

So many:

Barbara Erskine: Barbara combines the past and the present with such conviction, historical research and mystery.

James Herbert: I'm not a lover of horror books but James had a way of making it all too believable without scaring the pants off you.

Rosie Thomas: Rosie is one of those rare authors who's descriptive prose can transport the reader to any place, conjuring up evocative senses so you actually see, taste, smell and feel the locations she's in. With excellent characters and marvellous plots she's a joy to escape with.

Kit wrote: "So many:

Barbara Erskine: Barbara combines the past and the present with such conviction, historical research and mystery.

James Herbert: I'm not a lover of horror books but James had a way of ..."
I don't know Rosie Thomas's work. Always on the lookout for a recommendation. Which is your favourite Kit?

Stephen King inspired me to write about 100 years ago when I was 13.

Michael R. Hicks inspired me to self-publish, because he did it, and eventually quit his 25 year job to write full-time. Oh, how I want that to happen for me.

Kit wrote: "So many:

Barbara Erskine: Barbara combines the past and the present with such conviction, historical research and mystery.

James Herbert: I'm not a lover of horror books but James had a way of ..."

Oh, Kit, I love Barbara Erskine as well. I cannot read her books fast enough and she is one of the few authors I will read more than once! Adored Lady of Hay and Midnight is a Lonely Place made my hair stand on end. Which one is your favourite?

Stephen King.

Stephen King, Thomas Harris, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, George R.R. Martin, Jim Butcher, and Joss Whedon.

There are lots of other authors that I love, but those are the ones who really inspire me.

Authors who inspire me- J. California Cooper, Margaret Johnson-Hodge, Connie Briscoe, Carl Weber, Omar Tyree, Nicolas Sparks, and John Grisham

Karen Marie Moning and JR Ward for their work ethic, that it's ok to live in your head and for writing to the edge.

Christopher wrote: "We all have them--idols, authors we aspire to rise to the level of, authors that have inspired us, maybe even planted the seeds of our own writing careers. Let us know below who inspired you, or w..." Hi Chris, as boring as it so often said Stephen King is the reason I started writing, but Graham masterton, Dean Koontz and Eric Van Lustbader all had influences on me, especially as Eric is following me along with Graham.

There's a small list of authors that after I read their books, I shook my head and thought "Dang, I wish I could write like that." And of course, many of them are classic authors like Rudolfo Anaya (Bless Me, Ultima), or Sandra Cisneros (The House on Mango Street), and F. Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby). There's a small list of poets too.

I have to list Margaret Mitchell & Anne Rice as my top favorite writers of for a more modern perspective; however, I look at Mitchell's Gone with the Wind as a classic and it is my favorite novel of all time.

I'd like be truthful and say I have a lot of authors I like to read, like Debbie Macomber or Madelyn Alt, Yasmine Galenorn, & JK Rowling, and I learn from all of them; envy many of them.

I guess you'll notice that female writers dominate my list, but that's not on purpose, I assure you.

While I love many of my fellow authors, a handful are my touchstones for ongoing inspiration. Every time I reread one of their books, I find something new within and within me.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Ursula K LeGuin
Daniel Grotta
Viktor Frankl
Jorge Borges
Gardner Dozois
Charles Kuralt

Michelle wrote: "I was on this faster than you can say 'Neil Gaiman'. I love his expansive and evocative worlds and all the strong, ordinary characters.

Alexandre Dumas is another one. I hope to achieve that kind..."

Gaiman wrote the most perfect in the world ever fairy tale with Stardust. Sometimes I feel really inspired to write a fairy tale as a result - and then I wonder if there's any point because I don't think his can be bettered.

Travis wrote: "JA Konrath
Lindsay Buroker
Stephen King
Robert A Heinlein
Laurell K. Hamilton
Charlaine Harris
Christopher Moore
Douglas Adams
Dean Koontz

I am sure I could come up with more if I wanted to.

:)"

YAY to Douglas Adams - he's one of my all time favourites too. Along with that other Douglas - Coupland.

Selena wrote: "Authors who inspire me- J. California Cooper, Margaret Johnson-Hodge, Connie Briscoe, Carl Weber, Omar Tyree, Nicolas Sparks, and John Grisham"

Sparks is an interesting one - what a success story. When a plan for another novel of mine was temporarily thwarted a couple of years ago I entertained myself for a fortnight writing a Sparkesque draft - I focussed on beaches, the trials and tribulation of true love and a hefty sprinkling of letters. One of the most fascinating things I find about his career is that his books are so popular with Hollywood - but they always have to rewrite his endings as his are almost invariably tragic.

Oh gosh, where do you start???
OK so,
Edgar Allen Poe (obviously)
HP Lovecraft
Piers Anthony
CS Lewis
Bryan Davis
Lisa McMann
Maggie Stiefvater
JK Rowling
Marissa Meyer
Neal Schusterman

There, that spans a few years!

My influences have been John Fowles (The Magus)
Albert Camus (The Stranger)
Patrick White (Voss, The Tree of Man)
Kazuo Ishiguro (The Remains of The Day)
John Hawkes (The Beetle Leg)
Lawrence Durrell (The
Alexandria Quartet/ The Avignon Quintet)
J.G. Ballard (The Crystal World)
Henry James (Portrait of a Lady/ The Golden Bowl)

I could go on and on but these are some of my all-time favorites, as well as being major influences.

What's interesting to me is how varied these authors are. Some of them, I don't like - reading taste is so subjective! Mine? (no order but how they came to me)

Ayn Rand
Stephen King
Anne River Siddons
Barabara Samuel
Mark Twain
Edgar Allen Poe
Pat Conroy

Whedon, Margaret Weis, Edgar Allan Poe, The Bronte's, Tolkien, Jane Austen. Here lately since I started down the self-publishing road, I've been reading only Indie's, when I do have time, which isn't all that often.

Terry Goodkind
Stephen King
R.L.Stine
Anne Rice

Martin Booth (deceased, unfortunately)
Edward Rutherfurd
Tana French
David Baldacci
Stephen King
John Sandford
Greg Iles
Thomas Perry
William Martin
Ridley Pearson

I'd say there's a pretty wild spread of IDOLS here - many of whom I've never heard of (bad on me).

So perhaps I'm showing my age:

Cormac McCarthy
Hemingway
Joyce Cary
Flannery O'Connor
Raymond Chandler
Dashiell Hammett

As the end of the day, I believe there is no better literary fiction than Cormac McCarthy - ever - and I count The Road at the bottom of his work (still important, but not the best novel).

Hemingway is to McCarthy as Coltrane is to Wayne Shorter.

O'Connor is simply the best short story writer who ever lived. Argue with me!

Chandler and Hammett are masters of characterization and setting.

If you've never read Joyce Cary, his novel The Horse's Mouth is a gaffaw inducing riot of human angst.

i have the obvious heroes. and then some obscure ones. and some non-writing heroes. but i have to say at the core of my writing heroes list is judy blume. i was obsessed as a kid with her books. and the way they spoke to me. i wish i could write something for that age group as she had done. but her work is pure genius. esp are you there god...
\m/

Mine are Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Sarah Silverman, Conan O'Brien, Steve Martin, and Tina Fey, to name a few...I'm sure you can guess that I write comedy. : )

The author I most admire is British author Anthony Trollope. I've read every one of his 47 novels. Granted, some of them I found to be less than satisfying, but even the "mediocre" ones I considered totally engaging.

An author like Trollope who was equally adept at writing tragedy, comedy, and satire is a rarity, in my opinion. His writing always seems to flow, so that even some of the longest of his novels seem to come across as quite natural-sounding. I find his command of the English language to be, at times, breathtaking and awe-inspiring!

I have so many

William S. Burroughs
H.P. Lovecraft
Clive Barker
Edgar Allen Poe
Will Christopher Baer
Chuck Palahniuk
JA Konrath/Jack Kilborn
Charles Bukowski
Jim Carroll
Allen Ginsberg
Ray Bradbury

I'm just going to stop now. I could probably add another twenty.

Dashiell Hammett is the man! The Thin Man series inspired the relationship of my sleuthing couple in my novel, Stitches. His turn of phrase was like no other, and physical descriptions of characters totally unique.

Bradbury
Shakespeare
Poe
Colleen McCullough
Taylor Caldwell
Mary Stewart
and #1:
Stephen King!

Add to my list: (if I haven't posted these already): Stephen King, Colleen McCullough, James Michener, Tom Clancy, Taylor Caldwell, and the classics: Shakespeare, Milton, Tolkien, Evangeline Walton (fantasy) Bradbury...

While I have any number of novels by Frank Peretti, Dean Koontz, James Herbert, and single novels by any number of horror/suspense writers, there is and always will only be one that stands head and shoulders above them all. Stephen King

Not fiction, but I am in love with E P Thompson. And with Terry Eagleton. Who else? David Graeber, Rosa luxemburg, Sarah Ahmed. Marcus Rediker, Reginald Zelnik, David Klier. David Harvey, William Sewell. Bourdieu. Hell, life is too short and there are so many good books.

My idols are Steinbeck, Somerset Maugham, Pat Conroy, Camus, Hammett, Caleb Carr, P.D. James.

Carlene Thompson - she is the reason I started my book collection because I can't get enough of her writing. Then once I began writing on my own I find myself writing in similar style.

I have read and I love a lot of writers, but my idol is Chinua Achebe.

J.R.R. Tolkien for the best world created ever. Jayne Ann Krentz for her ability to write stories about commitment and family. Pamela Morisi for her ability to humanize conservative Christians. Isaac Asimov for his creation of the three rules of robotics, and Robert Heinlein for fearlessly challenging cultural mores. Lindsey Davis for her thorough research that resulted in recreating the Roman World for her readers. Mary Stewart for her definitive Arthurian books that melded Druid belief with Christianity.

Gillian Flynn

I have read all of his books, the ones he wrote as deception of the Stalinist era and the Gulag Archipelago that still stands as a true reflection of Soviet life in the prison system of the Kolima. SOLZHENITSEN.