tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16694337.post3633323766366238870..comments2023-10-30T05:07:43.880-07:00Comments on Kimberley’s Wanderings: Do Childhood Books Influence Us?Kimberley Griffiths Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03269829969442171522noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16694337.post-50618556985114042722012-07-04T08:07:33.946-07:002012-07-04T08:07:33.946-07:00My favorite books usually featured horses or some ...My favorite books usually featured horses or some kind of animal (loved White Fang and Call of the Wild and all of Marguerite Henry's books about horses). If it didn't have an animal on the cover I didn't buy/check it out.<br /><br />My choices started to change when I read The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. After that, I was more into mysteries (some Nancy Drew, but mostly Hardy Boys and Sherlock Holmes) and historical fiction (Little House on the Prairie, etc.).<br /><br />I continued to read books with animals (Can I Get There By Candlelight by Jean Slaughter Doty, for example, which was a mystery/historical fiction/animal book all in one).<br /><br />My teen years were spent reading the classics (Gone with the Wind, The Count of Monte Cristo, the Austen and Bronte novels, Thomas Hardy's works, etc.--most of the classics on my Goodreads shelf are ones I read in high school)<br /><br />I never stopped to think if these readings have somehow influenced the way I write. I don't write books about animals--well not chapter books; my PBs feature animals. I do love a good mystery and enjoy intricate plotting. The Salem Witch fiasco still fascinates me), and I'm not big on happy endings because life isn't always happy (I know at least that part was influenced by Thomas Hardy's works--his characters suffered and didn't always have happy endings).<br /><br />So, now that I think about it, I suppose my childhood/teen reading has most definitely influenced my writing today.justJoanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10377292351547511489noreply@blogger.com