I’ve always been an avid reader. And I credit my parents with my lifelong addiction to polular fiction. My dad read to relax, and he was always willing to share from the pile of paperback mysteries and westerns he kept on the table near his bed. My favorites were Earl Stanley Gardner’s Perry Mason mysteries. (Much later, after I became a writer, I learned that Earl dictated his books. Color me very jealous.)
My mom was also a reader. As it happens, she handed me my very first Harlequin romance novel to read. She told me I would like it. And, of course, she was right. When I was growing up, she subscribed to several women’s magazines, and I loved the ones that included a condensed novel. I can credit the editors at “Good Housekeeping” and “Redbook” with giving me my first taste of romantic suspense. (And I loved it.)
Lately, I’ve been thinking about the books and authors who’ve had an inlfuence on my writing, and some of them date back to those early days.
At the top of my list is Carolyn Keene. You may not recognize the name, but Carolyn (probably a pseudonym for several writers) wrote the Nancy Drew mysteries. My Aunt Kathleen gave me my first one to read when I was seven. It took me a long time to finish it, but I did. And then I was hooked.
Nancy became my heroine. She was bright and independent and she drove a convertible–a coupe. (I had no idea what that was, but I wanted one.) Nancy had two best friends, George and Bess, a handsome and fairly undemanding boyfriend named Ned, and a father who was always supportive and rarely interfered in her life.
She was leading the life I wanted to lead. She had exciting adventures, she solved mysteries, and she had an ingenious way of getting herself out of trouble. I still carry an image of Nancy in my head. She’s tied up in a locked room and she gets herself rescued by tap dancing S.O.S. in Morse code on the door. Amazing!
There’s not a doubt in my mind that I owe Carolyn Keene and Earl Stanley Gardner for the fact that in every single romance I write there’s always some kind of intrigue in the subplot. So far none of my heroines have ever tap danced their way out of trouble–but, hey, you never know…
Another author who has influenced my writing is one I first came across in a women’s magazine–Mary Stewart. Mary wrote several romantic suspense novels before she turned her attention to the Arthurian legend. My favorite is “Nine Coaches Waiting.” The book is a superbly crafted twenthieth century version of “Jane Eyre.”
In addition to inspiring me with her books, Mary Stewart also influenced me to start writing. In an interview, she was once asked what led her to write her first novel. She said that one summer she simply couldn’t put it off any more. She had to write. I wish I could say that after reading that, I sat down and wrote my first book. I didn’t. But her words kept coming back to haunt me until I finally stopped putting off the compusion to write. One summer, I set myself the goal of writing a romance. I wrote it on yellow legal pads at the rate of about eight pages a day. (The dictating thing has never quite worked for me!)
Did I sell that first book? No. It wasn’t very good. (The word “dreadful” comes to mind. And it didn’t have a mystery in it). The important thing about book #1 is that I finished it. Finally, I’d stopped putting off my dream of “becoming a writer.” And that book led to my second book and may third…and all the rest.
So I owe a big thanks to Carolyn and Earl and Mary!
Who are the authors who have most influenced you?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 29th, 2009 at 6:00 am and is filed under Cara Summers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.