Well, today is JK ROWLING'S BIRTHDAY!!!!! And Harry Potter's (meaning the character himself) birthday too.
Obviously, she's a huge influence on me. Just look at my last few posts and my blog's header -- although I really need to change that header because I've fallen more in love with JK Rowling's adult novel to only call this a "Harry Potter" blog. She changed my life, got me to thinking that writing could be an outlet during years which weren't really the best for me. She sparked the biggest passion in my life: to write. I can't imagine ever not writing again in my life. I honestly think it'll be one of the worst days of my life if arthritis takes over my wrists. I'm seriously thinking of doing wrist exercises right now because of it. Thinking, not doing. Because. You know. Exercising. And wrists. I'd rather get a six-pack. One day. One day.
Obviously, she's been a huge influence on me, and this is National Harry Potter Day so I thought I had to do a post on this! But it's more than that.
This is about influences.
My family definitely had a bigger impact on my life than JK Rowling has had (real life seems to trump imaginary ones, sadly) but that's expected. But that's okay. How about strangers? What stranger has changed you, impacted you in ways neither of you will ever truly understand?
Victor Hugo's "Les Misérables" left me breathless and sparked a book idea in my mind which I know I'm still not prepared to tackle.
JD Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" is what I consider the most perfect book almost entirely due to the book's voice: it's perfect because I wouldn't change a word in it; I wouldn't change a word in it because Holden would simply not allow it and I'm not messing with him. The book taught me stuff about voice and the usage of the 1st person, information which I'll never forget.
And obviously, JK Rowling and Harry Potter and "The Casual Vacancy," all which you already guessed and I have so much to say about her adult novel that I'll just direct you to my review of the book.
But what's more interesting is to see the vast rainbow of influences in the world, and sadly, I can't fill up this blog post with them because I don't know who affected you.
So for you:
What got you to start writing? To start living? What or who (and it must be strangers, not your family because that is almost a given!) changed you in huge ways?
HAPPY HARRY POTTER DAY!!!
Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara series sparked my urge to write. Add in shows and movies like Battlestar Galactica and Star Wars and you have my influences.
ReplyDeleteI agree; while the books I've read and movies I've watched have had an impact on my life, my family and friends are the ones who have had the biggest influence.
ReplyDeleteI've said in other places, and will repeat here: I write, because the words are in my head.
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I can recall when I was a kid -- perhaps 7 or 8 -- going with my Mom to the bookstore next to the supermarket and thinking, "Boy! It would be neat if some day MY book were here."