I am from Bournemouth and grew up with three sisters and a
brother. As the middle child, I wasn’t overlooked as the saying goes. We grew
up as a tight-knit family, always doing things together and sharing
experiences, such as reading. Mum is a prolific reader, and she is the reason
why we all read in the first place. Dad is quite the opposite in this endeavour
(the last book he started to read over two years ago was On The Origin of Species and yet I think he still hasn’t got past
the contents page).
Of course we grew up with Rowling, Pullman, Paolini and the
rest of them. Vampirates and standard teenage fiction took up most of our time
and yet we were never without a book to read. As I got older, mum introduced me
to Lee Child and James Clavell (Shogun is still my favourite book of all time)
and I’m hooked on these sorts of things now. With the freedom to choose my own
books to read, I can appreciate what I like and can subsequently draw from if I’m
immersed into that world enough.
The Inheritance Cycle was one of the greatest reads for me, as was Tolkien’s Middle-Earth and because I’ve enjoyed them so much, I find that I draw on ideas and gain inspiration from them. As with Dickinson, she is ‘the force driving the act of the poem’ even if it inspires other people to do something of a similar nature.
It is amazing how books we read in our childhood stay with us for the rest of our lives. There is something comforting about the memories books can trigger, returning us to a place we would otherwise forget.
ReplyDeleteIt was my mum who got me into reading too, and I have many great childhood memories of sharing stories with her. The Inheritance Cycle is one of the greatest things I've read too, not necessarily because of Paolini's style of writing but just because it was the first high fantasy I read and it had a massive impact on me at that time. Those books inspired me to branch out with the genres I read and and write.
ReplyDeleteYou say you're a voracious reader, but do you think that other mediums have inspired and contributed to your writing? Perhaps even just subconsciously? I know that whilst reading is a large part of my life and a hobby that made me want to write, television and film also have a significant impact. The way people can come up with these long convoluted, unpredictable story lines to keep audiences entertained is astounding.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great list of authors there. Pullman is a God, and don't even get me started on Tolkien. I think parents are definitely key to introducing kids to books and the concepts of story-telling for enjoyment. If the only experience kids have of reading is textbooks or required school reading, I find that very sad. Endless missed opportunities.
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