Voices of Fiction - Influences on Life/Writing - Wrap Up

Welcome to another edition of Voices of Fiction.

Over the last few weeks, the authors have shared wonderful stories of inspiration and encouragement in their life and writing. The biggest influences have ranged from parents, other family members, teachers, readers, spouses, other writers, friends, and life experiences.

There is one influence I don't believe anyone touched upon, and I'd like to take a moment to give credit. Although, over time, a connection with God has been shunned by some, rather you say God, a higher power, an energy source, or whatever, I feel we, as writers, are given a wonderful talent and by sharing it with the world, or even a friend, we extend a wonderful thank you to the higher source, whether we acknowledge it or not.

(Please if you don't acknowledge anything other than scientific facts don't take offense. We are all entitled to our beliefs.)

Who has been the biggest influence in your life? In your writing?

As a child, I had an automatic draw toward reading. I can't really tell you why, I just had to read everything. Book after book, cereal boxes, instructions, I loved the written word. Both of my parents were readers. My father was a huge Louis L'Amour fan, while I believe my mother read romance, but I'm not entirely sure on that one. So, by giving me the reading bug, my parents began my journey in life and reading.

Readers are always a great source of encouragement, whether it's a critique buddy, a mentor, or even Ginnie dropping you a quick email saying how much she enjoyed your latest book. I've had writers share with me their secrets and a few readers (some also writers) encourage me to keep going. When a writer tells you that you are good at what you do, it's a wonderful thing. When a reader tells you they enjoy your work, it's the next best thing. We do this for others, not ourselves. If the reader doesn't have fun, well, what was the point? (At least, that's the way I look at it.)

Authors have influenced each new writer's journey, one way or another - whether it is with great writing or even bad writing. Nothing gets a writer going quicker than reading something bad and thinking, "OH, I can do that, and better!" or reading great writing and thinking, "I want to do that!" Among the writers who have pushed me toward my writing journey are Stephen King, V.C. Andrews, John Saul, Kathleen Woodiwiss, Dean Koontz, and trust me there are many, many more.

Thank you all for joining us as we explored our biggest influences in life and writing.

Next week, we'll begin exploring another topic on "Voices of Fiction." Feel free to join in.

Readers send questions to chergreen@chergreen.com, Subject: Voices of Fiction Question, and have them answered by the participating authors in later editions.

There’s also room for more authors to participate. Drop me an email, Subject: Voices of Fiction.