At Romaniac HQ recently, the conversation of our writing influences and inspirations came up. Although we all started off writing romance, our influences have come from the four corners of the writing page. We thought we’d share them with you over the course of the coming months.
Laura is kicking off the feature this week …
Laura: It’s no secret I attribute the lovely Jill Mansell as one of my major influences. I adore the way her novels can make me laugh on page one and cry on page two. It’s a skill to which I aspire, despite writing ‘romance without the soft edges’. It was through Jill’s books that I discovered the RNA and subsequently joined the NWS. Had I not read and enjoyed Good At Games there’s every chance I wouldn’t have my own books ‘out there’. Other influences are Sheila O’Flanagan, Joanne Harris, (I thought Blackberry Wine was genius) Alice Sebold, Erica James (another author whose writing has me in tears), and Jodi Picoult – I love how she tackles huge issues. I’ve been extremely fortunate to meet Jill, Shelia O’Flanagan and Jodi Picoult, and recently, with much excitement and a necessary degree of fangirling, I discovered the audio version of Follow Me Follow You shares the same narrator – Antonia Beamish – as Erica James’ Summer At The Lake.
Since joining the RNA, I’ve met so many wonderful authors whose work was new to me but who have helped and inspired me – Sue Moorcroft and Julie Cohen, who are not only skilled writers, but fantastic tutors, Margaret James, Rowan Coleman, Carole Matthews, Miranda Dickinson, to name a few, who are all accomplished in their art and extremely generous with their time and encouragement.
Outside of the RNA, historical novelist, Isolde Martyn, and my writing pals at Off The Cuff, have been a major influence, teaching me different approaches to writing, and continually supporting my efforts. Before Off The Cuff, I had no idea what Flash Fiction was, and now it’s one of my favourite disciplines.
And I love the wide variety of styles my wonderful Romaniac friends share, and the safety net they provide when it comes to writing outside my comfort zone.
Books that made an impression and stayed with me from my youth? Enid Blyton’s Folk of the Faraway Tree, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm, and George Orwell’s 1984. It would be interesting to revisit them and see if these
authors influenced my writing, or if it was the pure joy of reading such excellent books that put the cartridge in my fountain pen.
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to mention Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks, Annie Lennox and Paloma Faith, whose music and lyrics are a constant source of inspiration, and in my humble opinion, examples of superb writing.
You are all an inspiration and I thank you from the bottom of my inkwell.
The Romaniacs 
Thank you, Laura! What a lovely post. You’ve made my day. xx
My pleasure, Sue. I’m using the planning techniques you taught in Italy – the big sheet technique (you probably have a more technical name for it) – I use wall lining paper, which means I can make the sheet as wide as I need. (It’s not on the wall, I hasten to add, although I do have some static white board paper which outlines the story structure that gets put on my kitchen wall.) I don’t think I would work any other way now. To have so many details at my fingertips as I write is wonderful. And I find I’m always asking questions of my characters and checking each scene is necessary and moves the story forward … the list is endless. You have been and continue to be a true inspiration. Thank you 🙂 xx
Reblogged this on strangelybzar and commented:
I’m at Romaniac HQ today, chatting about my writing inspirations. It was a lovely post to write because I got to mention some of my favourite writers and artists.