I find that when I write, though I’m not known or anything, I reflect on what other authors have done and try to build and experiment with some of the stuff they’ve written until I make it something I am proud of and something I can call my own. Whether I find a hidden door leading to a new world or magic hidden deep in the land of my story, it’s fun to play with the creations of others.

:)

Lloyd Alexander was one of my early favorite fantasy writers and remains so. Another one that isn’t often mentioned is Richard Adams, author of Watership Down. Before I started that book, if you’d have told me I’d start thinking like a rabbit, I would have give the ain’t-happenin’ head-shake and eye roll. But I became so immersed in that story world, it was incredible and wonderful and something I wanted to be able to produce.

But Donaldson was the tipping point for me as a writer. He was good and so close to a Christian worldview because he portrayed man’s failings and longings. I just wanted to see a story that told the whole truth.

As a child/young person, I read the commercial stuff and the classics. Nothing special. Nancy Drew and Walter Farley’s Black Stallion stories stand out in my memory.

Becky