Now I'm going to skip right over the Encyclopedia Brown days and try not to mention how many Sweet Valley High books I owned (all of them) and focus on the books that got me thinking, one day I'm going to be a writer!
It was probably just after I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
And right around the time I read The Pinballs by Betsy Byars and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
For the first time I felt like what I was reading was significant. I was fascinated by the real people featured in these books. They were young, imperfect and faced with real life problems.
Finally something I could relate to.Now don't get me wrong...I really do love me a good escape novel. But you have to give an author a whole lot of credit if she can make you feel something you wouldn't normally feel. Or don't want to feel. In-your-face reality isn't something I usually race to the bookstore to buy but I can't help but be impressed by writers who can pull it off.
Now I definitely don't want to forget about Lois Duncan or Judy Blume.
Judy Blume had me convinced that every single odd characteristic or personality quirk I possessed was not only completely normal but strangely appealing. And Lois Duncan...w
ell she got me all kinds of obsessed with ESP and telepathy. So much so that I occasionally freaked out my friends at slumber parties with my strange mind games.
Yes, I know. I was a weird kid.
But thanks to these authors my love of books and reading began. And now I can thank them when I grow up and become a writer. Yes. They will definitely make the acknowledgment page.
Fun post, it was neat to read about what books inspired you to want to write. :) I think Astrid Lindgren was a huge inspiration of mine - I loved Pippi and Emil as a child and wanted to create something so fun and zany and relatable myself.
ReplyDeleteThanks Guinevere! Your blogs are pretty cool! Good luck with your writing!
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