Last blog of the day besides the one announcing my winner. Don’t forget to comment on any of my posts today to be entered into the contest. The winner will be announced during the 9pm hour EST.
As a published author myself, I’ve been asked on many occasions who my favorite author is”¦who has inspired me most. Time and time again, I have responded””Jane Austen. It seems like an easy response, almost cliché. I mean how many times have you heard this same exact response from several authors?? But let me reiterate””I really love Jane Austen and if you want to ruffle my feathers spell her name A-U-S-T-I-N. It’s AUSTEN! Get it right people. But now I digress.
When we choose a favorite author, I suppose it is because we love their writing and can’t get enough of it, and as authors—wish we were as good as they. That is exactly how I feel about Jane. Miss Austen had a special gift, a talent if you will, not just in writing but in knowing people. Think about it. Here is this prim and proper (though some would argue this point) Regency era woman, unmarried, and coming from the middle of the social pool””and she has this uncanny ability to write the most terrific characters. She wrote characters to hate, laugh at, and fall in love with. Some of the other greats of classic literature also had this remarkable ability””Dickens for instance and Shakespeare. Think of their casts of characters that once read will never be forgotten.
For me, a good book is dependant on well-written characters far more than plot. Yes, we need a telling plot to keep the story going, but it is the characters which take us on the journey. I have only begun my adventure as a published author, having had my first book published in December 2006 and number nine and ten coming next year; but when I come to the end of this excursion, I hope there is someone out there who can say “Cindy Green wrote characters that I will never forget..’
If there is one thing I have learned from Jane Austen it is to observe people and try to make my characters as real as possible. Why is it that the likes of JA and Shakespeare are still read and revered to this very day? It’s because they wrote people that are true of the human spirit which will never change. That is the kind of author I want to be when I grow up. I want to make you laugh, make you think and in the end make you remember.
Anyone want to share a bit about their favorite author?
8 COMMENTS
Maggie Toussaint
16 years agoHi Cindy,
My you’ve certainly made a day of this! Very nice posts. I know of your love for Jane Austen (please let me have spelled that correctly!)
I have several favorite writers. My favoritist of these (is that a word) is Jayne Ann Krentz in all her iterations. I’m a JAK fan through and through. I like the way her men are strong, but with a sensitive side. They are often rugged looking and have not had easy lives. They always have a strong sense of right and wrong, as well as personal integrity. I like that in a man. Her heroines are fun and often times atypical for their time or situation.
Take care,
Maggie
http://www.maggietoussaint.com
romance.danger.mystery
flip
16 years agoI have too many favorite writers. Anne Stuart is a huge favorite. So is Laura Kinsale.
Raonaid
16 years agoMy favorite author, I like how for the spanse of time that I’m reading, reality seems to melt away. I get immersed into their world, their characters, like I’m right there experiencing it with them. The humor, the reality of the characters, how they deal with them..
Jennifer Santiago
16 years ago😯 Wow that is bautiful, no wonder you’re an author. 🙂
Some of my fav. authors are:
1. Katie MacAlister: I love her dragon series, and Aislin Grey is one of those characters you were talking about, unforgetable, heck she even has her own catch phrase. LOL (She was one of the authors I was thinking about when I told you I liked paranormal romances)
2. Rachel Gibson: I love her stories, just do. I don’t really know why but I’ve read almost all of her books…I think it’s because she writes very believable stories.
3. Stephanie Rowe: I just realized recently how much I love her books! The females are always hilarious and independent, the males are a little bit stubborn and appear to be much meaner and colder than they truly are, and the women they fall for are always able to peel away through all the bad-boy-ish layers to find the real man beneath.
(I kinda worship her, don’t I, hehe. But it’s true, that’s how all her novels are. And I was actually thinking about her when I was commenting on the funny and cute romance novels I like to read, and the paranormals too, hehe, I love her).
Gail
16 years agoHi Cindy,
Favorite authors..hmm I have so many I’ll run out of space to list them all. 😛 I got interested in books in grade school. I could always get Mom and Dad to buy me books through the Scholastic book flyers sent home from school 😉 My Dad always gave me books like Nancy Drew and the Hobbit by Tolkien. He even bought me the first issues of Rolling Stone magazine, when it originally came out back in the day. I think it was his way of giving me a interest in reading and education:!: LOL I’m currently a huge fan of urban fantasy and all types of romance. One of my favorite all time authors is JRR Tolkien, I think he was a visionary in his field. I think my favorite author is whoever it is I’m reading at the moment-yeah that sounds a bit trite, but it’s true. Any author that has the talent to enthrall me in their world, whether it is classic, urban fantasy, erotic romance or mystery earns a place in my favorites list.
cindykgreen
16 years ago AUTHORHi Maggie! Yes, I have been busy today but it’s been fun. You keep telling me about JAK. I am just going to have to get one of her books at the library this week. Thanks for coming by today.
Hey Flip & Raonaid – great choices. I too love a story that makes me forget I am actually reading.
Thanks Jennifer. Glad you liked that. :)Looks like you have some great favs too.
Hi Gail–I grew up reading Nancy Drew as well but the Hobbit came much later for me. I still love the Scholastic flyers. I order my boys books through them. JRRT was an awesome author, awesome mind.
Thanks for all the comments!
Shanae
16 years agoI live for books 😛 so picking a favorite author would be like asking a mother to pick her favorite child, it can’t be done 😥 .
cindykgreen
16 years ago AUTHORI know exactly what you mean, Shanae. Up until a couple years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to pick just one either and then I realized how much I loved JA. But really there is a whole list of authors I could add. 😉