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And now onto our regularly scheduled topic week: Influences!
When I first started writing, I wrote an urban fantasy. That's the kind of whack stuff I used to like to read. I started devouring more than just Harry Potter, and I came across Scott Westerfeld's UGLIES series in about 2008. 
I liked it.
I wanted to write in it. Not only that, but I wanted there to be cool gadgets and technological advancements, and anything else that sounded cool and could explode or transform someone into something they're not.
Yeah, those kinds of stories.
So I did. I wrote my first dystopic novel, POSSESSION. Since then, I've dabbled in dystopian fantasy, and more hard science fiction, like time travel. I love making and exploring new worlds outside the realm of existence.
I've moved on to reading more of this kind of fiction too. THE GIVER, INSIGNIA, MONUMENT 14, LIFE AS WE KNEW IT, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, WARM BODIES. They're all completely different, yet awesomely the same.
They create a world beyond what I already know. I can't seem to get enough of this kind of story for some reason. It all started with UGLIES.
Have you ever read a book that expanded your horizons? What was it?
A million years ago when I was in high school, my teachers introduced me to the Chrysalids, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, 1984... and they blew my mind! Great stories that pulled my mind in all sorts of directions - love when books do that :)
ReplyDeleteUglies was definitely influential to me. As I read it I felt myself saying, "I've always wanted to write THIS book and teach this theme." I had played with that theme for a while in my head but at the time I wasn't a writer and I wasn't sure how I would ever teach those ideas.
ReplyDeleteSo when I saw what Westerfeld did through story I found a beautiful medium for getting people to think about things.
They are still in my top YA books ever.
Iunno, I sort of want to read your books now! Let's see, a book that really made me go "oh wow, THAT'S NEAT" was Feed by M.T. Anderson. The concept of the internet being implanted into the human brain was very interesting and new at the time. The book was so well written, with it's own lingo and everything. It's always been what I compare other newly publish novels in the same genre to.
ReplyDeleteUGLIES was the first YA book I reviewed on my blog. It got me very, very excited for YA lit, so it could be a big reason I am where I am today!
ReplyDelete