Favorite Authors & Their Influence

[FoxyNightPrincess]

ah yeah i read anne rice's vampire chronicles. she has a lot of detail and the books seem to take forever to read but her interview with a vampire was fantastic.

i also tried to read tolkien's books. i didn't mind the hobbit it was alright and then i finally finished the fellowship of the ring and got about halfway through the two towers before i gave up. it just wasn't my thing. i couldn't understand half of what was going on and my mind kept wandering. i think i'll stick to the movies on that one. no offense to any tolkien fans out there. it's just not my thing.  

[Articx-Frost]

Let's see...*Scurries off to his library*

As with nearly everyone else, Tolkin and Rowling have always been great authors in my opinion along with Roald Dahl.

I'd have to say, Garth Nix, Eoin Colfer and Anthony Horoitz for getting me into the darker fantasy and making me have to think about the books. Ok, it was still slightly fluffy in places, but they were the first authors that used death and destruction along with magic and mystics. To finish off this part is Stephen King. An author of the true horror and suspence. These four are where I get all my dark, disturbing creations from.

For creating realistic and likable characters, Jonathan Stroud, Darren Shan (surprisingly), and Sergie Lukyanenko for making the characters Bartimaeus the Djinni, Darren Shan and Anton Gregory, respectivly.

For their description and attention to detail that went into the worlds that they created, James Patterson, Ian Rankin and Angie Sage. These three are one of the biggest reasons that my own posts have so much detail as well.
The co-authors, Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell deserve a special menthion in this section for the sheer awesome that is "The Edge Chronicals". Not only do the span over the space of four generations, but it follows the world and how it changed over the time. Dedication and talent is needed for that.

Chris Paolini and Trudy Cavaran take the section on magic for their books, The Eragon series and The Black Magician series respectivly. They both made a full magic system for their own books that both makes sense and seems like it could be believable.

Terry pratchet for keeping my works humorous, despite having read such dark novels by the rest of the authors above.

That about covers everything.  

[exdraghunt]

I read a lot, and have quite a few favorite authors. But as far as influencing my writing, I'd say Stephen King. Reading his works encouraged me to slow down, not try and rush through the back story, and take the action as it comes. After reading several of his novels, I went back to an in-progress story and managed to take the introduction from three pages (when it felt horribly rushed) to eighteen. Pacing and backstory much benefitted.  

[damaged-reality]

I really like Stephen King's writing.

I'm not a big fan of elegant writing (example: The King and I), and I love how King's words melt together to make his books easy to read, without making the writing style too elegant.

easy reading is hard writing. XD

I'm also I fan of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series, even though it's kinda inappropriate for my age. Although the author died before he could write some more ( sad rest in peace Steig Larsson), I still consider myself a fan.  

[Xiao Xianyu]

I'd have to say Michael Crichton has been a big influence on my work. I do much more research into anything I'm writing about now. And appreciate it when an author does the same, instead of just saying - this will happen this way because I say so.

Tolkien is an influence as well, just because he probably was the author that inspired my love of fantasy. Though CS Lewis also must take the blame for that, as all the dozens of times I've read his Narnia series can attest for. Peter S Beagle comes to mind, too. I think all of them also influenced my interest in characters, and wanting my characters to be well-rounded and believable.

I have a love for older works. HG Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Louisa May Alcott, etc. I also have an odd assortment of older books written by authors I do not know well and have never found other works by. I think they've influenced how I write, for I've been complimented that my writing style is unique. So my guess is it has to do with my love of older ways of writing.

Oh, and I have to say Edgar Rice Burroughs influenced my way of writing romance. To me, he has the perfect blend of having two characters love eachother deeply, and still stand alone as characters. Without falling into being clingy or whiny - something I abhor reading and seems so terribly prevalent in modern works.  

[Secret Kirari]

People are probably going to murder me for this, but I actually find myself somewhat influenced (in what I'd consider a good way) by Stephenie Meyer. I liked how she wrote The Host, personally, because I found it interesting to learn things only as the main character learns them, rather than being a sort of omniscient third-party presence. Perhaps, you could say, it's just that I like the concept, but I really do like the writing itself. She isn't what I'd call the most amazing writer ever, but I don't think she's bad.

Now, for other authors... I like Anthony Horowitz. I like him a lot. He manages to keep everthing going at a fast enough pace where you don't ever want to put down the book because you can't seem to find that 'perfect' stopping point. Or, that is, it does that for me.

I liked Christopher Paolini, too, and Eoin Colfer. There are some authors whose names I've forgotten, but I liked the book Snow-Walker and a few other series that I cannot remember the names of. The writing in them influenced me despite my forgetfulness, which is something that happens unfortunately frequently with me.

Despite that I very much like the Harry Potter series, I'm not certain that JK Rowling's writing really has influenced me so much, because sometimes I didn't actually like how she wrote... just the ideas which she conveyed and the storyline itself. I distinctly remember feeling that the seventh book was rushed and not as well done as it could have been.

The people whose writing influences me most nowadays are my fellow RPers (Eylios in particular, since I roleplay with her quite a lot) as well as the work of fanfiction authors. I read a lot of fanfiction. Lately, in particular, SpeakingThroughWrittenWords has influenced me a lot with her Hetalia fanfictions. I really like the way she writes. It feels so original to me. I believe she has said that she's been influenced by Shakespeare, though, so maybe you could say that I'm indirectly being influenced by Shakespeare? (I do like the sarcasm that is often employed in his plays, actually. Sarcasm is something I like to think I do well.)  

[MadameDPomp]

Ray Bradbury.
That man is the only author I'll ever really need.
If you can find it somewhere within the depths of the internet, read his essay "The Impulse to Write"
It was honestly the only essay I've ever enjoyed reading.
That man can get out lifetimes in one short story; I'm rather envious.  

[VenusRain]

Articx-Frost

Chris Paolini and Trudy Cavaran take the section on magic for their books, The Eragon series and The Black Magician series respectivly. They both made a full magic system for their own books that both makes sense and seems like it could be believable.

I'm sorry, the two bolded parts DO NOT COMPUTE especially since it's pretty obvious that Chris is pulling everything out of his a** and it's not consistant AT ALL.

I'd say Glen Cook and Mercedes Lackey were both major influences on my writing. Glen Cook definately steered me down to darker and grittier styles of writing, while Miss Lackey definately sparked my interest in actually writing fantasy, if I've got my timeline right.

And while I love Pterry's writing, I don't really see much influence from him in my stuff, mostly because I have no hope of ever being that good at funny-as-hell-writing-with-a-tasty-dose-of-seriousness. :C