Authors
Ursula Le Guin :
Le Guin was always considered the queen of fantasy and science fiction in my house. Both my mother and her best friend, my spirit-mother considered Le Guin the cream of the crop, but I wasn’t allowed to attempt to read her until I was, “Old enough to get it.” I have to admit that the first time I picked up City of Illusions, I was about twelve and I put it down yawning. Fast forward ten years and I absolutely devoured the book and the complete collection of The Earthsea novels. She is a master of fantasy and SF as well has a beautiful storyteller. She knows words.
Marion Zimmer Bradley:
What can I say? I don’t have the vocabulary to adequately state the impact her work had on me. It started with The Darkover novels. I loved the pretty pictures on the covers. Mom didn’t think I would find them that interesting at thirteen, but she was wrong. At fifteen, Mom lent me her copy of The Mists of Avalon. In my (not so) humble opinion, Mists is a seminal book in fantasy fiction. It became very much my guide both in writing and spiritually. I had it on top of my pile of research books for writing Protection mostly as direction to refine and mold the language of the Fey and the vampires.
I was at work at a start-up the day I found out MZB died. I was so overcome and distraught I had to go home. Nobody understood and I don’t blame them, its hard to wrap your head around other people’s heroes.
Anne McCaffrey:
Well. Basically its all her fault. It started with The Dragonriders of Pern. My mother’s last ditch ploy to get me to read books. I was only passively interested in reading and would read an occasional book, usually something below my reading level and only if forced. I think I was about twelve when Mom handed me Anne McCaffrey books. She asked me to read to her while we drove four hours to eastern Idaho. By the time we reached our destination, I was hooked. I don’t remember much from the trip other than what I read. I devoured the first nine books in the Pern series in just over three weeks. Anne McCaffrey is who got me to really start reading.
Sheri S. Tepper:
This is a little more complicated. I can’t say that I have read the whole canon of her work. I can say that The Companions is one of the best books I have ever read. Ever. Period. When I read it I thought, “Hmm... that was interesting.” I put it down and walked away. Somehow the book, its ideas and characters pitched a tent in my brain and decided to become a permanent resident. I ended up reading it again just to see if I could get it out of my head. The second time I read it I thought, “Woah.” The Companions is rich with ideas, complex characters and a twisting plot that made it impossible to put down. I am excited to read her new book The Margarets.
Also, one night when I was at a particularly low point with writing Protection and feeling like an idiot for considering myself a writer, I was perusing fantasy authors on wikipedia. Two things stood out for me under Tepper’s page: she was 54 when her first novel was published (I didn’t feel too old to try anymore) and her birthday is the day after mine (go cancers!). After reading her biography on wikipedia, I felt like there was still a world of hope for me -chin up.
J.K. Rowling:
I came to Harry Potter a little late. After the seventh book was published I decided I would give the books a go. I had seen the first three movies and they were okay. EVERYBODY I knew (except my Mom) had read them. By the time I was two-thirds of the way through the first book, I was hooked. When I say hooked, I mean I would be at work counting the minutes until I could get home to find out what happened to Harry. It was ridiculous. After I finished the seventh book I began reading them again. Then I collected all the movies. Then a friend of my husband gave us the audio readings of the books, which I listened to several times. I also found myself in a not so secret society of people who were Harry Potter fanatics. Everywhere I went, I could find someone to talk “Harry Potter” with. Harry Potter is still a great tool for breaking the ice with kids at the hospital.
All the craziness about Harry Potter aside, the books are some of the most imaginative fantasy that has come out in a long time. It is easy to overlook the craftsmanship, imagination and talent that made the Harry Potter books when all you see is the franchise.
J.R.R. Tolkein:
I think I would be remiss to list my favorite authors and not include Tolkein. He is the granddaddy of fantasy as far as I’m concerned. We are all mere mortals in his wake.
All I will say is that I still remember Mom reading The Hobit to me as a kid. I think I was barely eight or nine. “One more page Mom” was said a lot during that time. I read The Lord of the Rings much later because I was so mad that Bilbo wasn’t the main character it took me a while to find my love for Frodo. I’m eternally glad I did.
Neil Gaiman:
What do you say? Seriously. I came upon Gaiman sort of by accident. I was waiting to get my box set of Harry Potter books from amazon. Amazon recommended that if I liked Harry Potter, I might like.... American Gods. Well, I did. A lot. I have since read several of his books, both children and adult and the “Sandman” series. What intrigues me about Gaiman is that when I am reading his books I have the all over creepies like when I dream about being chased by something and I am moving through the world like peanut butter; never fast enough to escape.
The Graveyard Book is hands down one of the best books I have read in the last ten years. I think that every Mom in the world should read it. Without blowing the story to bits here, I will say the final chapter had me bawling with the beauty of it.
Christopher Moore:
Umm. Well... I had never, ever come across fantasy books like his. I had written a book with vampires and a friend of mine at the dog park told me that I should pick up Bloodsucking Fiends. He had told me about Christopher Moore for months. I finally relented and bought the book. I had never known that fantasy and humor had a rightful place together. Well, not humor really. More like slap your leg, wake your sleeping husband up laughing while reading in bed next to him, humor. Though I am so often in awe of all these authors imagination, I spend a great deal of time with Moore, wondering “how screwed up is this guy?” I am almost done reading every book he’s written... three more to go.
He also just happens to be a brilliant writer. He’s got it down. I hate him and he knows it.
Stephenie Meyer:
To be honest, I begrudgingly began reading Twilight. I had bought the first two books because I knew that there was going to be a movie coming out ( a motivation for me to read a lot of books). I wasn’t thrilled with the concept. I was afraid that Mrs. Meyer’s Mormon upbringing would cloud the whole book (having been raised by a black sheep Mom, I was a little more sensitive than most people - and looking for preaching). Well, lets just say that I went on a Twilight fast because there were about six days where all I did was read. I would stay up too late reading and got up too early to begin reading again. I didn’t find any preaching. I did find a vacuum for my brain and a perfects escape. I had fun.
The biggest gift I got from reading the Twilight series was twofold:
1- There were no rules when it came to monsters. If you were writing them, they were your mosters to do with as you wish.
2-There was no need to have a wild imagination. I AM NOT saying that Mrs. Meyers doesn’t have imagination. What I am saying is that her stories were accessible to me. Essentially, it was a love story... with monsters. I wasn’t intimidated. Twilight was simple enough in its execution that it made an insecure girl realize that she too could maybe put something like a book together. All the other authors on this list intimidate the confidence out of me. Mrs. Meyer did just the opposite.
Mercer Meyer:
My mother recently reminded me that the beginning really, truly started with Mercer Meyer. Author of gobs of children’s books, I loved the pictures as much as the stories when I was a kid. I was famous for a while at performing Professor Wormbug and the Search for the Zimperump-A-Zoo by memory. I was five. I still giggle when I pull it off the bookshelf. If it weren’t for his monsters and friendly dragons, I don’t think I ever would have taken interest in all of the above.
THE POCKET BOOK LADIES:
In an effort to better understand the market I would likely be writing to, I started reading these pocket books. Okay, what really happened is that I found Kim Harrison’s book Every Which Way but Dead in a second hand store. I started reading it realizing that I missed a couple of books, so went back to the beginning of the wonderful Rachel Morgan series and was hooked. I think I read the whole series in about two months. I haven’t read the latest. Why? Because I hate the idea I have to wait a year for another one. I’m savoring the delight. Kim Harrison is not only a great author, but available too. If you send her messages on FB, she writes back! Cool, no?
http://www.kimharrison.net/index.html
Laurell K. Hamilton got hit next. She is rather popular and I wanted another series because I like spending time with characters. She has a vampire series and I am writing about vampires, so I wanted to get others take on them. I really, really hate finishing series and saying good-bye. Besides, how bad of an author could a woman named Laurell be, right? Turns out, she freakin’ great. The best part of reading her books is you see a huge arch for the main character. Well, the arch of Anita and Jean-Claude. In my top three of sexy love interests.
http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/
I shuffled through some other series that I liked, but wasn’t struck until I came across Adrian Phoenix and her Maker’s Song Trilogy. My only complaint about this trilogy is that its a trilogy. Other than that. I have to say that when I started reading it, noticing the main vampire is in a Goth industrial band where he plays at a club he owns in New Orleans, I tried not to groan at the cliche. Have to say, um, I was schooled, baby. These are witty, complex and very exciting. Dante Baptiste in the top three hotties.
I haven’t even finished the third book of Stacia Kane’s Megan Chase series and I will likely go back and read it again. She is an incredible combination of Hamilton’s sexy men, Harrision’s innocent charm and a dash of Christopher Moore humor. Seriously. If you aren’t reading her stuff, you are missing out. I am gonna pick up her other series too because I believe in supporting up and coming and brilliant writers. If you don’t know about her now, don’t worry, you will.