Misc. Mental Musings

Writers of Note

S. G. Lacey

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Several writers have profoundly influenced my life.  Looking back through time, there are a few authors and artists I consider mentors despite having never meet them in person.  In my mind, that is one of the most compelling reasons to read; the more works you explore from a given writer, the more it feels like you know them.  That realization, while simple, is quite compelling. 

 

Below is my list of notable authors, with some notes on how I feel each writer has shaped my own literary endeavors.  It’s a rambling list, matching my erratic life path and wandering mind, but I would highly recommend them all.  Looking at our home bookshelf, many of these works are represented in paper form, which is a commitment after moving back and forth across the country several times.  Without further ado, my chronology of inspirational writers is as follows: 

 

Dr. Seuss: 

No introduction needed, Theodor Seuss Geisel’s combination of witty lyrics and amusing cartoons are known by generations of young children.  My mom was a huge influence on my lifelong interest in learning; she read to us every night before bed and the Dr. Seuss collection are some of the first books I actually remember.  For those adults in the audience, check out one of Dr. Seuss’s hidden gems, “You’re Only Old Once” written by Mr. Geisel on his 82nd birthday.  I’ll also thank the Dr. Seuss books for my lifelong love of puns and sarcasm, as evidence by the quote below from our friend the Lorax.

 

“They say I’m old-fashioned, and live in the past, but sometimes I think progress progresses too fast!”

 

J. R. R. Tolkien: 

Another household name, Tolkien and his Lord Of The Rings high fantasy world can probably be credited on some level with George R. R. Martin’s (suspiciously similar middle initials) writings, and the incredible success of the Game Of Thrones book/TV series.  Tolkien’s work has the feel of an old English writer, but was in fact not written until the 1950’s.  These stories, which my brother and I became engrossed in through as middle school students, shaped our imagination as well as interest in random activities like target practice with homemade bow & arrows and countless hours playing the Magic The Gathering card game.  Fortunately, we avoided getting any atomic wedgies or swirlies through most of high school.

 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle:

The creator of literary characters Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John H. Watson, Doyle is the oldest writer in my list of influences.  Doyle wrote 4 long format Sherlock Holmes novels, but what I remember the most are his engaging petite mysteries.  With over 50 total short stories, many originally published weekly in the Strand Magazine during the 1890’s, these works focus on crime solving in Victorian London using the cunning logic and reasoning of Holmes combined with the physically strong, but sometimes dim-witted, Watson.  This combination of protagonist traits has been applied to countless literary and cinematic duos since Doyle’s original conception.  I read all these Holmes & Watson accounts in book format, but also had many of the short stories on tape; I remember falling asleep listening to these entertaining stories, and can recite many of them verbatim. 

 

Michael Crichton:

Jurassic Park, Congo, Rising Sun, Sphere.  You would think Michael Crichton was a movie screenwriter.  In fact, at 6’ 9” tall Crichton was literally one of the largest, and most inspirational realistic future fiction novelists of our era, who unfortunately died ahead of his time.  The Crichton books were addictive for me; my parents would get the hard copy of each new story when it came out and I’d stay up all night burning through each new tale.  Not great for school the next morning, but Crichton’s fact driven insights on science and technology were more insightful than a day of class anyways, and his forward-looking society inferences still shape a lot of my own fiction writing.

 

M. C. Escher: 

While not necessarily an author, the Dutch graphic artist Escher was incredibly influential in my own creative process during high school and college.  For those who are unfamiliar, Escher’s works, primarily drawings but some sculptures, are heavily based on geometry, repetition, and spatial reasoning.  I inevitably loan out my massive hardcover book with the full collection of Escher’s life’s works to any child I meet who displays that odd combination of mathematics and artistic inclination.  His pieces are often both confusing and through provoking, like “Sky And Water 1” shown below, which relies on the use of positive and negative space to generate a compelling visual effect.