Hi! So it's my birthday today!!
I'm officially no longer a teenager. I'm twenty! Which is just crazy and time goes by too fast. I've loved being a teenager... Especially 16-19. A lot's happened in the past seven years of being a teenager. We've lived in Indiana almost the whole time. I graduated high school and started college and published two books. I got my first job and soon I'll be graduating with my associates this Fall. I've met a lot of amazing people and had a lot of great experiences. We've gone to Disney twice.
I've made some really close friends and been to three different churches! A lot of struggles and difficult times has happened to... I've struggled with panic attacks and anxiety and depression since I was like 16, and it's really encouraging to see how much I've grown in the past few years. My anxiety is still very real and most days its still a struggle, but I've learned to better manage it and have had far less panic attacks than I did earlier on.
As a writer, I've grown a lot. I published two books!! And I've grown so much in my writing and have learned so much about characters and plots and how to create a good, compelling story. My writing has grown so much since I was thirteen years old, since I was sixteen and I'm really proud of how far I've come and being able to see how much I've grown and am still growing in my writing. I couldn't have grown if I hadn't read well written books from amazing authors, so I want to share some of the authors who have influences and inspired me the most over the years.
I'm officially no longer a teenager. I'm twenty! Which is just crazy and time goes by too fast. I've loved being a teenager... Especially 16-19. A lot's happened in the past seven years of being a teenager. We've lived in Indiana almost the whole time. I graduated high school and started college and published two books. I got my first job and soon I'll be graduating with my associates this Fall. I've met a lot of amazing people and had a lot of great experiences. We've gone to Disney twice.
I've made some really close friends and been to three different churches! A lot of struggles and difficult times has happened to... I've struggled with panic attacks and anxiety and depression since I was like 16, and it's really encouraging to see how much I've grown in the past few years. My anxiety is still very real and most days its still a struggle, but I've learned to better manage it and have had far less panic attacks than I did earlier on.
As a writer, I've grown a lot. I published two books!! And I've grown so much in my writing and have learned so much about characters and plots and how to create a good, compelling story. My writing has grown so much since I was thirteen years old, since I was sixteen and I'm really proud of how far I've come and being able to see how much I've grown and am still growing in my writing. I couldn't have grown if I hadn't read well written books from amazing authors, so I want to share some of the authors who have influences and inspired me the most over the years.
- Shannon Messenger is, of course, at the top of my list. I have been reading her Keeper series since I was fourteen! Her writing and stories and characters have been inspiring me for six years! When I was a little older at fifteen or sixteen I devoured her Let the Sky Fall YA trilogy and I love those just as much as the Keeper series. Her stories and characters have inspired me so much and honestly, have kept me going when I've been really down or in a writing rut. Just the thought of wanting to be as good of a writer as her one day has really spurred me on. If I can be half the writer she is and put as much time and effort into my books as she does, then I will be a happy writer. Plus, she just revealed the cover for the seventh book in the series yesterday!
I love long Middle Grade series because we as readers get to grow up with the characters. Sophie was just a little twelve year old girl and now, I think by the seventh book she's like fourteen or fifteen? Shannon Messenger and her books will continue to inspire and influence me for a long time cuz just because I turned twenty doesn't mean I'm going to stop reading MG books.
Ahhh its so amazing!!! - Rick Riordan is another author who heavily influenced me. I read his books when I was like twelve/thirteen. Right around the age Percy was in the first book. I really did get to grow up with Percy cuz by the time the last book came out and Percy turned sixteen, I was turning sixteen or seventeen. Rick Riordan and his Percy Jackson series was what made me realize my love for Greek mythology and his Kane Chronicles gave me a love for Egyptian mythology too. I'm sure I would have discovered my love for mythology and legends another way if I hadn't discovered his books, but without his books I wouldn't have this complete love and interest in history that I do now. I've spent so many hours over the years researching Greek and Roman and Norse and Egyptian mythology. I've read the myths and books about the myths and watched TV shows and movies inspired by the myths. Without Percy Jackson, and Sadie and Carter Kane, I don't think I would have the same kind of love and passion for ancient history that I do today.
- The same goes for Michael Buckley. Without his Sisters Grimm series I don't think I would have the same kind of love and passion for fairytales that I do today. I've spent lots of hours research and reading fairytales and reading about fairytales. I've spent hours researching their origins and learning about the Brothers Grimm. He opened up this world of fairytales to me and his series helped to instill in me a love and interest in folklore and fairytale studies. Not to mention, I read the Sisters Grimm when I was like eleven/twelve and read through all eight books as they came out throughout my teen years. I already read his latest Undertow series, a YA series. I was so glad I found that series because I got to enjoy the Sisters Grimm when I was in that age range for the genre so it was cool to read a YA series by him with a character around my age.
- I was introduced to the dark world of the Fay when I read 13 Treasures by Michelle Harrison. Before then, fairytales had always been pretty light and fluffy with princesses and fairies. But Michelle Harrison introduced me to a now fairly popular world in the YA genre. A world full of Fay that are tricky and sometimes malicious and cruel, but also beautiful and dark. Her books gave me a different perspective on fairytales and the Fay and made me want to learn more about the Fay and their origins.
- Uph, I just want to mention all of my favorite authors because they've all influenced me and my writing so much but I'm trying to keep this list fairly short. So my next author is Marissa Meyer. Again, her books are a fairytale retelling. But I think, her books are some of the first real Scifi, futuristic books I read. I feel like I Am Number One was one of the first scifi books I read, but Marissa Meyer's books heavily influenced me and helped grow my love for the world of scifi. Her Lunar Chronicles were also so incredibly written and complex and inspired me to be more brave with my writing and my writing style. How she had a new POV per book, made me realize that books can come in all kinds of structures and still be good. I don't have to put my books and writing in a box.
- I have to mention Ingrid Law on here because I've read Savvy like a million times over the years. Besides Pictures of Hollis Woods, that is probably my all time favorite book ever. I read Ingrid Law's Savvy and knew that I wanted to be as good of a writer like her. I wanted to strive for my writing to be as good as the writing in Savvy. That is one of the books that made me fall in love with the MG genre and will forever be one of my favorite books.
- Ok.. so just two more and I think I'll mention them side by side. A.G. Howard and Holly Black. They're newer authors to me. I've always loved Alice in Wonderland, but A.G. Howard made me love it even more with her Splintered series. Her writing was so dark and so complex and intriguing. It inspired me to break more barriers, to try new things and not put my writing in a box. I also loved the romance in that book and I still study her writing, her characters, her plot and especially the romance subplot when I need inspiration or help with something. Holly Black is another go to to study her writing and characters and plot. She's newer to me and I've read three of her books. The Darkest Part of the Woods, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and The Cruel Prince. All of which are just so complex and intriguing. She is truly an incredible writer and I hope to be as good as her one day, especially when it comes to crafting complex and sophisticated characters and plots.
- One more! I promise! Victoria Schwab. Again. Another truly incredible writer. I study her book too, Vicious, not just because of her amazing writing, sophisticated characters and plot but also the structure of the book. She has like actual flashbacks throughout the whole book and I love flashbacks so I've loved looking through her book and studying it to figure just how I can do flashbacks well, because I know flashbacks are tricky and a tricky subject. Plus Our Savage Song and Our Dark Duet, are just amazing. The deep themes she hits in her books are just beautiful and bittersweet and I love reading her books so much. I am dying to get my hands on the sequel to Vicious called Vengeful.
So yeah, those are some of the top most influential authors I've read. They helped craft me into the writer I am today and without them and their books, I wouldn't be the same writer or even person I am today. You should totally go check all of these authors out because they're all really awesome! And now, I'm going to go revise Silver for my birthday and do some other fun birthday stuff like eat cake!
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