The Ten Books That Changed My Life
Let’s just get one
thing straight here. I could never pick just ten. I’m not saying that every
book changes my life, but it’s always something I’m aware of, when I pick up a
new book: the shimmering possibility. And you never know
which book has changed your life, until you look back on your life and see the
pattern in it: where someone else changed the way you thought, changed what you
wanted and what you did next. But I thought I
could have a stab at talking about the books that changed my life in a way that
influenced me to write the Lynburn Legacy series.
The Night World
series by L.J. Smith
If I have to pick
just one of the series I pick… Daughters of Darkness by L.J. Smith. (Three vampire
sisters seek freedom! Their playboy vampire brother seeks them. Their next-door
neighbor is not seeking him, but wouldn’t you know it.) In this series,
you discover your soulmate through touching them, mainly, at which point you
visualize a connection between you two or sometimes read their mind. It was the
first but not the last time I saw reading someone’s mind be presented as
romantic, and I thought to myself, eventually… I can see how it’s
romantic. To be truly loved is to be truly known. But I can also see
how it would be horrific. I wouldn’t want anyone to read my mind, ever. I
certainly do not think anyone reading my mind would ever be able to keep any
romantic notions about me alive. Imagine my beloved staring into my soul and
thinking ‘SARAH! Cuddle Time is not meant to be the time you work out a plot
twist!’ No thank you. I saw books and
shows and movies where mind-reading was horrific, but I never saw the
intersection between romance and horror that I wanted, where both the wonderful
and terrible sides were shown, and where in talking about that you could talk
about romance itself—how it sometimes swallows you up and sometimes saves you,
how it can be toxic or true. And you know what they say: write the books you
want to read. Now, Daughters of
Darkness also mentions Pride and Prejudice, which is where we move to the books
which have romances in them I particularly enjoyed…
Pride and
Prejudice by Jane Austen
(Awesome lady does
not seek proud rich bachelor. Wait. Awesome lady is reconsidering based on
extensive grounds at Pemberley.)
The Changeover by
Margaret Mahy
(Your little
brother is enchanted, so you go to the witch who is a prefect at your school.
He is surprised you are not there because of his manly charms. His family are
surprised to have a witch who has manly charms.)
Howl’s Moving
Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
(First you get
turned into an old lady. Then you take up residence in a handsome evil wizard’s
castle. This is a day full of surprises.)
Cotillion by
Georgette Heyer
Fingersmith by
Sarah Waters
(Crime-loving lady
seeks innocent victim for scam. No, wait. Crime-loving lady seeks crime-loving
lady.)
I may have even
written up summaries of the romances of these characters here: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/157724.html
Bet Me by Jenny
Crusie
(A dude is offered
a bet on whether he can sleep with a lady. He certainly does not accept the bet
because he is not a LOATHSOME TOAD. However, when he approaches her, she heard
the bet and thinks he has accepted it, and really, what does it matter what scheme
she cooks up for a LOATHSOME TOAD?)
I talk a little
bit about loving romance, and specifically the romance in this book: http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/143949.html
These are all
stories which have romances between clever characters who have, from the start,
really great dialogue together… but who need to learn how to talk to each other
so they can both understand each other. Whether they’re deliberately deceiving
each other or just coming from very different places, this move from wit
between relative strangers (because I want it to be interesting from the first)
to true communication is the best kind of romance, for me. Tell me about the
fire in their loins… well, okay, I believe you, congratulations you guys, but
I’m not that interested. Tell me the words, and I will come to understand what
the words mean just as the characters do.
Jane Eyre by
Charlotte Bronte
(Girl meets house.
House is full of secrets. Girl meets man. Man is full of secrets and bad ideas.
Girl flees from house and man onto moors. Moors have fewer secrets but are not
great places to live.)
My first Gothic
novel that I thought of as a Gothic novel: a mystery, with moors, an old family
home, old family secrets, and the fear of madness and being trapped.
I may have written
my thoughts up on this further in Jane Eyre, or The Bride of Edward Crazypants
Rochester:
http://sarahtales.livejournal.com/193457.html
The Secret Garden
by Frances Hodgson Burnett
A book that I
loved and then later realized was a Gothic novel (a mystery, moors, an old
family home, old family secrets)… except perhaps because it’s a Gothic novel
for children, there’s hope in it for everyone.
(Girl meets house.
House is full of secrets and a screaming person. Girl leaves house sharpish and
finds a super nice garden. Girl locates screaming person and takes him to the
garden as well. If only Mr Rochester had been more into gardening.)
The Murder of
Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
(A famous
detective meets an admiring doctor. Together, they solve a crime. It seems
familiar but it’s not.)
As you can see
from both this selection, and from a couple of others, I love the structure of
a puzzle—solving a crime, working something out. I love characters who are
dedicated to a cause (whether it be seeking truth and justice, vengeance, or
the quest for a quick buck) and who are working toward it. I love a story that
will surprise me but more than that, I love characters who will sweep me along
as they charge forward in their stories. So, I wanted to
write a series about magic, crime-solving, determined characters and romance
that was both awful, wonderful and maybe a little thoughtful. I can’t say
whether I succeeded. Only you can tell me that, dear reader! I do hope one of
my books changes somebody’s life, one of these days. Might be yours.
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