My Favorite Authors

Job 7:14 Then thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through visions:
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My top five, not in any specific order:
 
Stephen King - He is one of my faves because of his style. I can’t say he has class but he’s a writer, he doesn’t need class. We writer’s know we need to grab our reader by the...throat, and this is just what Mr. King does. He takes you by the throat, throttles you around a bit, and leaves you gasping for breath right up to the very last word! Favorite book? It would have to be Duma Key, for now.

Dean Koontz - I love his class! This man knows gore, delivers a scene without degrading human beings. I’m hard pressed to find vulgarity in his words and it has to be in the characters nature for it to EVER be seen in his books, and I’ve read many. Favorite Koontz book? Odd Thomas, hands down. And I’ve read tons of Koontz’s books.

Shirley Jackson - Style AND class! Here’s a winning combination. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read The Haunting of Hill House, and her short story Lottery Ticket? Well that drew a lot of negative feedback in its day, although today, people wouldn’t bat an eyelash!

Ray Bradbury - Now this man has style, class AND longevity. Everything he touches turns to sold! He don’t beat around the bush in delivering a story. He does it with an eloquence we all, as writers, aspire to do.

Tolkien - Tolkien has an air of grace. His words flow perpetually through time, and carry the weight of a feather all the while holding you captive by his poetic style. This man treated writing as an art form and delivered to us characters that will forever remain entrenched in our hearts. Lord of the Rings is my favorite all time book!

Now, I’ve left out many outstanding authors like Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, J.D. Salinger’s, Catcher in the Rye, Mark Twain and all of the classic writers from our past that we’ve come to know and love. I’ve also not mentioned J.K Rowling or the James Patterson’s of the world today, who knock on our children’s door and they allow these characters entry, into their hearts and quickly become the favorites of their time.

Yes, anyone can write, but not all people can write a classic, or write on the levels of these authors that will carry their writing through the portal of time. It takes a person dedicated to bringing you an art and delivering to your doorstep the light, love and grace of style that only writers can display for you.

Remember, writers are your blanket on a cold evening, they wrap you in their hearts and souls and carry you to loftier worlds where you can live in the fantasy realm of your dreams. Why not hug a writer today, within a good book that is. :)

Perspective

Psalm 51: 12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
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From my perspective, life is moving along at a snails pace, the mundane becomes boring and a shake up is in order for it to move along swiftly. Oh, wait, I already had a shake-up a few weeks ago. Still reeling from the aftermath too.

Perspective is where we can sit on a cloud and look down at people and their lives, swooping down to get a closer view or just sitting and observing. I gain perspective the longer I observe and in writing that is just what you need to do sometimes, observe.

I observe other writers as they link words together to form sentences. I watch as the sentences take the shape of paragraphs, and the paragraphs form a story. What better way to learn than to witness the classics in action?

I’ve read some newer authors and I’m not impressed with their storytelling. What I get from the library shelves is that this new author writes the book, feeds it to the editor and sometimes the publishing house needs new blood so bad they accept, not so good work.

I see typos throughout, misspellings weaved in, atrocious punctuation and this all slipped by? Wasn’t anyone watching the creation of this tale? This is the very reason I prefer classics. The story didn’t depend on a computer program. It depended on a writer sitting at his/her desk tapping on the keys of a typewriter. Yeah, a typewriter, remember those ancient things?

I’m not knocking new author’s, by no means. After all, I can learn a lot from them too. I see what NOT to do in a story.

I read differently being a writer. I try to get into a story, but I’m always picking it apart, word for word, sentence for sentence. It can become quite annoying so I rely on the classics to take me to an imaginary world, where I soar in the reading of the text, without picking and needling every aspect of the writer’s skills.

Maybe I should start listening to audio books. You can’t find typos if you’re listening now can you? And you can hear the words forming sentences, but you can’t nit pick the structure.

As far as perspective goes, this is my view, from my world, my perspective. Others may have a different take and that is okay because being a human being with free will, you my friend, have a perspective too.

Enjoy being unique. Cherish the life you were given and always have, give and share your perspective. You’ll be glad you did. :)