Sunday, November 16, 2014

INFLUENCES CHALLENGE!



INFLUENCES CHALLENGE!



Originally this was just a challenge for writers, but…here I go changing the rules like usual. :)

Life is art, and I want to hear from everyone. As we live and breathe we are influenced and inspired—what drives your creativity?



The original challenge only included a list of other authors/poets, but I quickly realized that movies, TV, and historical figures also have greatly influenced my writing.



List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Tag at least 15 friends, including me, because I'm interested in seeing what my friends choose.



Here’s my list:

1.Anne Rice. She’s the Queen of Vampire Fiction. Period.

2. Laurell K Hamilton (Her early work. Started reading Anita Blake in 7th grade. Not sure that was a good thing. :P Positive responses to Anita Blake Vampire Hunter fanfiction back in the day really whet my appetite for writing.

3. Tom Robbins. Found Invalids Home From Hot Climates in a book exchange bin in a hostel in Beijing. Blew my mind, and I haven’t been the same since. Thank you Tom.

4. Pablo Neruda. I love his poetry, so much that I have his words inked under my skin.

5.Larry McMurtry. His books have been my companion since 5th grade. Also not sure if that was a good thing, but his particular brand of American West grit definitely shaped me and my work.

6. Craig Johnson. I fell in love with Walt Longmire from book one and I’m still not over it. :)

7. Frida Kahlo. Her art and the story of her life have stuck with me since high school. She was such a strong woman in a time when it really was not easy to be so.

8. Alexandre Dumas. The swashbuckling 3 Musketeers have always fired my imagination. My earliest fanfiction was of Les Trois Mousquetaires.

9. Arturo Perez Reverte. The Captain Alatriste books, as well as the Queen of the South.

10. Jo Nesbo. Masterful and gritty Norwegian noir mysteries. Detective Harry Hole is an imperfect yet lovable bad a$$, hands down.

11. Che Guevara. He wasn’t perfect, but I think he was a brave and good man, the kind of man not many can stand next to these days. His zeal to elevate those who lived in poverty in the third world was true, and I respect that greatly. His writings are fascinating.

12. Robert Rodriguez (Desperado, Once Upon A Time in Mexico) I watched them over and over again in my youth, and they definitely left their mark.

13. The movie Zorro w Antonio Banderas (Yeah yeah, shut up. I watched it over and over for the swashbuckling…and Antonio. I was really young when it first came out, and it left a very lasting impression.:)

14. Isabelle Allende. Yep. I loved her book Zorro, among her other works.

15. The show Justified. Timothy Olyphant is the Clint Eastwood of our generation.



My influences encompass vampires and vampire hunters, swashbuckling, gun slinging, and historical figures who raised their middle fingers high to the Man. :)



Ok. It took me 20 minutes. Sorry. :) Now, Go!

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