Who Influences My Writing. I Hope.

Thursday was neuter day for the boy cats. I've had 3 drunk kittens on my hands. It turns out that drunk kittens do not simply drink water. They stand IN the water dishes and start digging. This lead to an inch of water in the bathroom, a sodden kitchen counter, and three kittens dripping water from their bellies down. I'm have no idea what was in the pain meds the vet gave them, but I want some.

Oh. Right. I was supposed to tell you about the influences on my writing, not hallucinating kittens. None of these authors will be a surprise to anyone. I've mentioned them all before. As I look across the list, though, maybe this is my wishful thinking list. These are the people I'd like to have influencing my writing, because in each case, I love the turns of phrase. I adore the images these writers create. Certainly, I'm reading modern authors whose work with words makes me swoon, but it's probably early to claim they influence me as a writer just yet. So my no-surprise-to-anyone list of influencers:

1. Andre Norton
2. Charles de Lint
3. Robin McKinley
4. H.M. Hoover
5. Arthur C. Clarke

Andre Norton was my first book love - the one where I read a single story of hers and I was hooked and had to hunt down everything she'd ever written. I'm still looking for the westerns.

Charles de Lint writes words the way I imagine most people write music. I love the way his words go together. I can't figure out if it's painterly or musical or both. I just love his facility with the language.

Robin McKinley makes me love her worlds and her characters. It's no secret that Sunshine is one of my desert isle books.

H.M. Hoover - how do I explain this one. H.M. Hoover wrote kids books. These books are pretty damned dark. But to this day, despite my age, H.M. Hoover's writing makes me identify with a 10 year old heroine every single time.

Arthur C. Clarke - I love the themes in his work. Always have. The stories go together in a way that feels so effortless. Complex ideas and descriptions slid down so easily. I love getting to the end of one of his stories, my head whirling, and wonder how I got from page 1 to The End.

I guess the common theme is that these are people who write books that stay with me. In every case, the stories stuck with me not just for days, but for decades. These are the books that I kept in storage during the boat years, and then paid to haul across the continent when we moved. I can walk into my office right now and put my hands on books by each of these people. That's what I aspire to be. So yeah. This is my man-I-want-to-be-like-them list of authors who I hope influence my writing.

Derivative Fun in the WIP

My favorite thing about the current WIP is that I get to be a kid again.

Edie is a thinly veiled homage to my favorite MMORPG character ever. I can't say which game because frankly the game company believes they own my character and everything about her even if *I* did all the work creating and voicing her. So no screenshots of her, either. What is it about this situation that lets me be a kid?

I can pack Edie's speech, actions, and characterization full of Easter Eggs that harken back to the character and game of origin. I get that maybe three people on earth will recognize them when they read them. It amuses me while I write, so that's my excuse. There's a distinct chance that not a single one will survive editorial, anyway. Oh well. True, my game character had magic as the basis for her power and I frankly can't swing that in an SFR, but you know. Arthur C. Clarke, right? "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."  So Edie has the tech to do what the things her progenitor did with magic.

All of this came about because the game company made repeated disparaging remarks about the race of character I had chosen to play. It's as if they learned nothing from Robin William's devastating suicide. The gist of their statement about this particular race of characters was something like 'this fictional race is too ridiculous to be taken seriously.' Sure. It looks like the game designers built the race in question to provide comedic relief in the game. But I think they're wrong. Dead wrong. I think most of us have come to understand that the funniest exteriors mask the most tragic and conflicted interiors.

So yeah. No pressure or anything, but I'm doing my best to pack all that stuff into a character who only has 90k words and a romance to get off the ground. My other favorite thing about it is that I don't have a hard deadline. So when something isn't working, I can afford the time to backtrack and figure out where I deviated from The One True Path.

Now. My very favorite thing on earth will be FINALLY finishing this thing. So I'm off to do that.

Wishful Anthology

Coming to you live from the annual Novelist's Inc conference in St. Pete Beach - which means this will be short and blunt because I'm blogging between workshop sessions.  Also. I'm warm.

If I could be in an anthology with any three authors alive or dead, here's my dream list:

Andre Norton - because her books are why I'm in this mess to being with.
Robin McKinley - because of The Blue Sword and Sunshine
Arthur C. Clarke - because Childhood's End

Lofty goals. But lets be clear. I'd prefer to NOT have to die to get this anthology. Guess I'd better get on inventing that time machine, huh?