What books inspire your work?

[Bukarella]

While working on my current project, I find myself reflecting on The Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, Little Prince, The Last Unicorn, Pride and Prejudice, and Japanese mythology.

I'm sure I'm not the only one that draws inspiration from the works of others. Please share.

[ebennet68]

The project I just finished was inspired by Persuasion by Jane Austen and is a modern twist on the tale.

[maxmordon]

For my WIP, I have felt some passing reference to The Trial and The Stranger, some people has said that the setting reminds them Transmetropolitan.

[Kisatchie]

Let's see... Kurt Vonnegut, John Kennedy Toole, Douglas Adams, and Herman Melville.

[bclement412]

Beauty and the Beast with a paranormal and modern twist.

[gothicangel]

My current book:

The Collector [John Fowles]
Land Of The Living [Nicci French]
Killing The Shadows [Val McDermid]
Buried [Mark Billingham]
Out Are The Lights [Richard Laymon]
Misery [Stephen King - yep I hated it that much.]
Hamlet [William Shakespeare]
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - [Stieg Larsson.]
Vanish - [Tess Gerittssen]

[Lady Ice]

Romeo and Juliet :)

[AryaT92]

Ender's Game and 1984.

[Harper K]

For my stubborn WIP:

Poet in New York - Federico Garcia Lorca
The Demon and the Angel: Searching for the Source of Artistic Inspiration - Edward Hirsch
The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
Dreaming in Cuban - Cristina Garcia
Ash - Malinda Lo

[ishtar'sgate]

What books inspire my work?
This may sound strange but nothing fictional. Research material inspires my work - a lot. I love history and I love making the attempt to bring it alive to readers. Research inspires me to recreate interesting times and events, especially through photographs of artifacts, artistic renderings of events and accounts written by people of the day. I thoroughly enjoy historical fiction that feels true to a period and will always read that author again but their fiction doesn't inspire me to write - that's between me and the period I'm obsessing over at the moment.

[Adam]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and RA Salvatore's Drizzt series.

Fantasy and funniez. :D

[backslashbaby]

Catch-22, Heller
Un senor muy viejo con unas alas emormes, Garcia Marquez
Candide, Voltaire

Movies - Rocky Horror, It's a mad mad mad mad world

That about covers it; the rest is all me :D

[Cliff Face]

Terry Pratchett's Discworld series and RA Salvatore's Drizzt series.

Fantasy and funniez. :D

Dear god yes! And have you read The Cleric Quintet? I read those before the Drizzt series... awesome.

The books that inspire me aren't WIP-related, so much. Like, I don't read a bunch of books while writing hoping that they'll inspire me. I just get inspiration from books I've read in the past, and then I just read for pleasure while writing.

So, on top of what was quoted, Douglas Adams's books, The Undead series by Maryjanice Davidson (funny erotica), any books with a supernatural theme (I have loads, but I'll make a special mention of Claudia Gray's Evernight and Stargazer - you should all buy a copy) and physics books.

Strangely, most of my inspiration comes from daydreaming about what I'd like to see with my own eyes - some of that comes from other books, but mostly it's all me.

[aadams73]

My checkbook inspires me.

[a_sharp]

Anything by Donald Westlake. When I climb back up from the floor, I feel inspired to sit BIC for a few hours. Unfortunately, that's about as far as the inspiration goes. Sadly, he's gone.

Hiaassen can be inspiring, but he's a Florida liberal AND a journalist. Unforgivable combination. I keep waiting for his dark Finn side to emerge, but all he does is make me laugh.

Evanovich? Meh, bathroom humor. But she knows how to put a story together with memorable idiots, a strong plot, dialogue worthy of a sitcom. And she's rich and pretty, so my plan is to bask in her karma until it rubs off. The rich part. I'm already pretty.

Norman Mailer is too heavy. Not to be read whilst standing. Broke my foot when I dropped Harlot's Ghost on the train. Lost my place and never did finish.

I also like The Big Red Coloring Book.

[Adagio]

Anything by Donald Westlake.

Loved his humor.

Evanovich? Meh, bathroom humor. But she knows how to put a story together with memorable idiots, a strong plot, dialogue worthy of a sitcom. And she's rich and pretty, so my plan is to bask in her karma until it rubs off. The rich part. I'm already pretty.

Loved your humor :D

[sadron]

There are many. Forgotten realms books, Silmarillion, The Hobbit, Heroes Die Young, Friends in Deed, etc.

[Fredster]

My book is born from my love of older Stephen King and Dean Koontz books, so when I started writing I went back and read Firestarter and Watchers, because my main story arc involves similar elements. I didn't read for ideas, because my plot was laid out, but more to set my mood.

King is incredible at characterization, and Koontz's descriptions are almost poetic. Me, I just rely on a lot of action. :)

[year90ninezero]

This month I've been really inspired by The Lathe of Heaven by LeGuin, The plays of Ibsen, like Ghosts, and Ingmar Bergman movies. Also the mystical poems of William Blake and Austin Osman Spare.

[LuckyH]

I really can’t single out a special book or author that inspired me, but I know that if I look on the book shelves behind me, I could select far too many to post here. I’ve never specialised in a genre for my reading material, yet I specialise in one when I write.

There are very few established authors whose writing I dislike, and I’m not going to mention those here either.

I was inspired this morning by reading of an author I had never heard of, and I’ve searched Amazon and ordered one of her books. I often do that, and I’ve found some real gems. Mind you, I ignore all those silly Amazon reviews.

[Libbie]

Well, my writing slants at a sharp angle toward the literary end of the spectrum, and it's more about language than plot. Especially for my short fiction, which I've been working on heavily over the last few weeks.

I'm working on a short sci-fi/alternate history story at present and I'd have to say the book that's influenced my narrative voice the most for this one is Bend Sinister by Vladimir Nabokov.

For the novel I recently finished and am querying, I was influenced by a couple of popular novels by another author, set in the same general time and place, but in my opinion they suck out loud, and I wanted to prove that it could be done better. I won't name names, for obvious reasons.

[Adagio]

I really can’t single out a special book or author that inspired me, but I know that if I look on the book shelves behind me, I could select far too many to post here. I’ve never specialised in a genre for my reading material, yet I specialise in one when I write.

There are very few established authors whose writing I dislike, and I’m not going to mention those here either.

I was inspired this morning by reading of an author I had never heard of, and I’ve searched Amazon and ordered one of her books. I often do that, and I’ve found some real gems. Mind you, I ignore all those silly Amazon reviews.

Same here. I also browse the thread "What are you reading now" and find about authors I'd never heard of before. That's how I discovered Miriam Toews, a Canadian author unknown to me, recommended by CaroGirl. I'm reading now A Complicated Kindness, by Toews, a wonderful little book that could bear the title of an inspiring novel. That's how I found out about Diane Chamberlain -- from the same thread. Thank you, guys and girls. You're an inspiration to me!

Adagio

[Feathers]

Land Of The Living [Nicci French]

I loved that book! It was so intense. Best amnesia story ever.

For my current novel, I think I was inspired by Graceling by Kristin Cashore. The main character, Katsa, had a kind of fury in her that I'd never seen outside any other novels than my own. It was a character trait I'd lost touch with and used to have a lot. It was so beautifully written in Graceling that when I started writing my latest novel, Mirrorpass, I found myself bringing it back in the MC. It sounds sort of like copying when I say it this way. But really, it inspired me to dig deeper into my character than I had in a long time, and let the emotion just tear her apart.

For the record, I loved Graceling :)

-Feathers

[Shadow_Ferret]

Well, the stories of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs inspired me to take up writing.

But now? I inspire myself.

[Anarchicq]

Animal Farm, House of Leaves, and various manga and comic books.

[Memnon624]

The works of Robert E. Howard and Harold Lamb, the Arabian Nights, Mary Renault's historicals, Steven Pressfield, Tolkien, Herodotus, and bunches of non-fiction.

Scott

[samuel1278]

The House of the Spirits.

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[sascoggin]

The Quicksilver trilogy by Neal Stephenson.

[Jamesaritchie]

I think it's more writers than individual books for me. It's the writer's style I remember, and that comes out in my own writing.

But it's hard to say. I love an awful lot of books, and a bunch of writers.

[TC Beacham]

Lately I'm inspired by fast-paced novels that are more dialogue than description - either literary or M/T/S.

[Cliff Face]

M/T/S being Male/Tranny/Shemale ???

<-- no clue.

[triceretops]

Been on a Rollins kick lately, 'cause the dude writes like me or I write like him, one or t'other. I like a lot of movement in a storyline that usually involves exotic or distant locations. Action/adventure might be my next genre, but it's kind of a tough sell.

Tri

[JonSwift]

Children of Men made me reconsider what I do as a writer. Just wish I was as funny as Douglas Adams. Damn!

[angeliz2k]

Currently? Hilary Mantel. I just finished Wolf Hall and though I had issues with it, I really enjoyed the way she built her world and characterized the people in it. The style was engrossing, too.

[HighDesertBrat]

For the bodice rippers, the sign over my desk (Tomorrow used to be payday.) keeps me pretty inspired. If it doesn't work, I stand in front of the mirror and practice saying, "Do you want fries with that."

For general fiction, it depends on what aspect of the writing it is.
Ayn Rand, though her characters are way too one-dimensional and her plots are way too preachy, can write descriptions of action and setting that sweep you right into the page. She also manages to bring in a ridiculous number of subplots and tie them all together at the end.

Judith Krantz, who can handle sex while still following the dictum of Helen Gurley Brown. (Say anything you want, but say it like a lady.)

Stephen King, for showing me when, where and how you can break the "rules" and get away with it.

Ann Fairbairn, for handling a morally charged topic (racism) without getting preachy.

Dean Koontz for character that take on a sense of authentic existence.

That's just off the top of my head.

[kdbeaar]

Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series has really kick-started my Middle Grade adventure.