What works inspire your fiction?

[Frank Creed]

My main ones are 1984, Shadowrun, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Francis Schaeffer's and CS Lewis' non-fiction, Watership Down, The Space Trilogy.

[rjj7]

Inspiration for specific ideas comes from any number of places. However, if one wants inspiration for tone and general trend of thought, I'd have to say that The Chronicles of Prydain and The Silmarillion are my two biggest inspirations.

[Kessie]

It depends on what I'm writing. Right now I'm tinkering with a werewolf/romance/mystery, so I'm calling on the years spent devouring wolf books and dog books by Jim Kjelegaard, Walt Morey, Jack London, and my all-time favorite, Albert Payson Terhune and his dry wit. For romance I'm drawing on the lovely writings of Mary Stewart, who always managed to blend romance and mystery so satisfactorily.

For contemporary, I'm still chewing through the YA/MG genres, but I've found kindred spirits with Sarah Prineas (the Magic Thief) and Polly Shuman (The Grimm Legacy). And of course, everything by Diana Wynne Jones and her multiple colorful worlds.

[lexkx]

I have stories that develop in a lot of different sub-genres (historical, YA, fantasy, but generally not together), so that's not a simple question. One particular story/series might be birthed by one particular event or author I've read, but inspiration across the board is tricky. For an adult historical supernatural story, for instance, my chief inspiration is one line from Beowulf. One connection between a minor character and a forgotten event sparked a whole series. Across the board, though, I would say LM Montgomery's "Emily Climbs" (for characters), the Brothers Grimm (for plots), MM Kaye (for narrative and backstory do's and don't's), Stephen Lawhead's Song of Albion trilogy (for epic awesomeness), and Shakespeare's King Lear (as a general end goal...).

[Bethany J.]

For writing style, Rosemary Sutcliff's, "The Lantern Bearers", "The Eagle of the Ninth", & "The Shining Company" (all historical fiction). LOVE.

For my science-fiction, I'm inspired FAR more by movies and TV shows than books...is this true of anyone else here?

For fantasy, I am inspired by a whole host of authors: Tolkien, The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, C.S. Lewis (mostly "Till We Have Faces"), "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry (I know it's part of a sci-fi trilogy but it feels like fantasy to me), and "Ella Enchanted" and "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" by Gail Carson Levine (and her other books).

[fluke]

When writing my forthcoming collection, I read a lot of GK Chesterton and HP Lovecraft. Worldview collision! I can't think of two authors more polar opposite, but I wouldn't be surprised to find out there are some.

[kmorvant]

I like movies and TV for inspiration, especially the older sci-fi, action adventure, spy stuff and others. The stories were good, but the special effects were lacking. Newer sci-fi hits the mark on special effects, but the stories sometimes lack the depth and continuity desired.

[celesta]

Kathy Tyers books and the Battlestar Galactica TV series. Battlestar Galactica - I just hated it but yet I just had to keep watching to see what happened. I guess also the Roswell TV series, too, to some extent and also every other lame, cheesy Sci-Fi movie, I pretty much watch them all. Also lately, I have been inspired by the music video, "Proof of Your Love" by For King and Country. It's super-awesome.

[stormiel]

Music is a big one, the song Break Your Knees by Flyleaf (oddly enough). Soundtracks are cool.

[yoda47]

My current WIP is loosely inspired by:

- Thor (the recent movie)
- Bleach (the anime)
- Gargoyles (the cartoon series)
- Romeo and Juliet (If you don't know....)

And I stress the "loosely" part...

More here: www.aarondemott.com (including an excerpt!)

[Ranger Varon]

Whatever I'm reading/watching or pops up in my internet radar. Right now, that's mainly Doctor Who and superhero comics.

Nothing has been inspired lately, though.

[Kristen]

My current work is mainly inspired by history; also by CS Lewis & Jane Austen. I also sneaked in a reference to Antigone.

[MattB]

I get inspiration by old literature like Poe, Lovecraft, Stoker, and Wells. There is just something about the old books. The smell, the way the older pages feel in your hand. I think to myself that one day (if I would stop being lazy) maybe someone else will be reading something I wrote on their kindle or what ever medium they choose and think 'wow, I wanna write something like this'.

[Torrias]

Eddings' Belgariad and Malloreon are definitely inescapable influences due to being major favorites of mine, read multiple times over the years; I'm sure they had a distinct impact on my dialog writing in particular, and my enjoyment of simple but impression-making description of locales.

One character in Wheel of Time (the half of it that I read, anyway) breathed life into what came to be one of my favorite characters in my writing. Hambly's Dragonsbane gave me my first concept for my first fantasy character--who also became one of my favorites--along with inspiring my unique kind of dragon. McCaffrey's Dragonriders books inspired my work on worldbuilding. Anthony's Xanth gave me the idea of individual, innate magical talents of varying types and degrees, without needing arcane study or spiritism or ESP or whatnot. And most recently, Correia's Monster Hunter International and Peters' Amelia Peabody books are stirring up new levels of humor, action, and just plain fun-for-the-sake-of-fun during my long unable-to-write hiatus.

And, might I add, the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting of Eberron is just plain intriguing and will probably have a lot to do with shaping the setting of a lighthearted and odd low-steampunk vampire piece I've messed with writing and hope to continue eventually.