True Love.

I thought I’d talk about the three books that made me fall in love with reading–and also made me enamoured with the idea of writing. I don’t know about other writers, but for me, there were definitely specific moments where I felt the tug of what to create.  The first shouldn’t be shock for anyone who knows me and knows what I love to read:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Austen’s ability to create sympathetic characters who tugged at the heart is almost unmatched. She made people human, for better or worse. She depicted all of our best and worst traits. Balancing out her torn apart lovers, making them never too perfect, but always a couple you rooted for.

Heidi by Johanna Spyri

It’s the first ‘big’ book I remember reading on my own. By the time I was ten, I’d probably read it twenty times. It was also the first experience I had with a story taking me into another world. I distinctly remember wanting to try it for myself (I wrote a book about bears. Profound stuff. LMAO).

And last but not least…The Rogue series by Jo Beverly.

As I don’t write historical, it might seem odd that a regency romance inspired me to write love stories. It’s not so much the era, but the drama, angst, and thrill of a couple coming together. Jo Beverly did it magnificently with all of her Rogues, with humour as well.

What books inspired you to write?