Comments on: Writer Appreciation Week

By: Malcolm R. Campbell

Malcolm R. Campbell — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:52:22 +0000

It’s 11:47 a.m. already and no random person has come up yet and given me a hug. The bank teller smile sweetly. I wonder if she was paid to do that or if she appreciates my writing.

Goodness knows, if I start thanking every writer who helped me one way or another, I’ll sound like a gushing novice on Academy Awards night who thanks the world for his or her award.

My father, the late Laurence R. Campbell, was a teacher, a journalist, and a great positive influence. So, too, was the late Mike Shaara my best college teacher and a darned fine novelist. I could go on: everything I read has an impact because I allow it to change me. I evolve with a lot of help.

Malcolm

By: alan

alan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 14:03:07 +0000

Cate – Why, thank you.

Michael – Good tips, I’ll investigate.

ganymeder – Good list. How could I have left off the Bard? Discovered in high school and never forgotten. Other than this post, but you know what I mean.

By: ganymeder

ganymeder — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:55:10 +0000

Douglas Adams,
Mark Twain,
Shakespeare
(not trying to be predictable, but I simply LOVE them),
Robert Heinlein,
Harry Harrison,
Isaac Asimov,
Stephen King,
Anne Rice.

Honestly though, Douglas Adams is my writing hero.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:39:57 +0000

There’s the obligatory Twain and Adams from the above. But this Writer Appretiation Week I’d also like a tip of the hat to Victor Hugo, Chesterton and if you want a more amusing version of Lem look no further than the Strugatsky brothers.

By: Cate Gardner

Cate Gardner — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 06:51:00 +0000

Fabulous post, Alan.

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Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:33:47 +0000

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By: alan

alan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 03:02:30 +0000

Ah, good call, Dave. I even have a Twain quote in the sidebar here. Another one that just occurred to me – Polish writer Stanislaw Lem. Genius!

I’ll check out your list.

By: Dave

Dave — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:57:00 +0000

Nice post. I did a copycat on my blog. We share a number of favorites: King, Gaiman, Pratchett, Eddings… One author I neglected to mention in my own post was Mark Twain- for his humor, social commentary, and gift of capturing dialect.

By: alan

alan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:17:24 +0000

Excellent! I haven’t heard of Luke Davies before, so I’ll check him out.

By: RJ Keller

RJ Keller — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:01:20 +0000

Excellent post, Alan.

Luke Davies, from your neck o’ the woods. That man is a genius with words. I read his novels “Candy” and “Isabelle the Navigator” after I’d finished the first draft of “Waiting For Spring.” His writing is just so incredible…beautiful and brutal at the same time, and it inspired me to go back and put some real guts and grit into my own novel.