Major Influences?

Influences on style is perhaps different to authors who influenced me to want to write at all - so being contrary, I am going to answer the latter - Enid Blyton and Agatha Christie, who are always linked in my own mind (I often used to wonder as a ten year old whether they were the same person using different names)

Christopher Fowler, Ian Rankin, Richard Ford, Raymond Chandler....

Hi! Me to, Catherine cookson is a major influence in my writing, I would like to write a steamy leg-shaking novel I think it is time the Collin's old biddies were put out to grass. Is America ready for me? Another influence in my writing is my late father he could tell more tales than Enid Blyton especially to the police, he could talk his way out of murder, he proberbly did. I am useless at English but good with words, do you have this problem? Bye for now Jackie.

Yes jackie! I sometimes feel a writer - and at others, I feel myself - can be so influenced that their work actually seems as if it was writen by the 'influencer' in the first place only, of course, it is not as good. witness the work of the first two postees in this thread. I love you both xxxx

Margaret Drabble, Iris Murdoch, Daphne du Maurier, P G Wodehouse, Tom Sharpe.

Glad to see someone mention Alan Garner. Florel. I'm Welsh and I won a set of Garner books in a poetry competition as a kid. I was entranced, especially by the very spooky Owl Service.....

I remember winning Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn as a child, they were school prizes. I read the Tom Sawyer straight away but never got around to Finn, 26 years later....maybe it's time....now where did I see my copy last....ermmm it's around here somewhere....

Brown booze. Iain Banks. Joyce Dickens Welsh(slightly) Tina Russel (!) A good malt. J. R. Hartley... Alan Spence. My Uncle Fergus. Ambrose Bierce. Sallinger. Poe. Lovecraft. Shakespeare. Kafka. Whoever wrote "The Muppet Show." Robert Burns. Hamish Henderson. Catherine Cookson (b4 she began to write) Eddie Gibbons (go and read Shopping Forecast NOW!) Marmalade Atkins. Toyah Natalie Goldberg. I could go on, but won't. My biggest influence is God, who I don't believe in.

Julie Burchill John Hegley St.Mark Not necessarily in that order.

Yes, Elidor is a haunting story. Very dark. I haven't seen the site. Thanks for the tip.

as everyone who knows me knows Pam Ayres was the major influence on my style of urban knife centred bleak darkly sexual fiction ... as well as on my semi rural poems about angst on the patio over tea and cakes ...

For me it's got to be S.T.Colleridge and Spike Milligan for poetry.... David Eddings for stories.

Thomas hardy Jim beam Johnny walker Goren gin Jack sanels oops hic hic

many of my doodles have been inspired the great designers of our time. Charles Rennie Mackintosh was perfect for acid wit whilst Inigo Jones and his Temple of Doom was pure escapism. of the concrete poets I can never decide whether Leek or Busier had the heaviest influence on me. I like erotica but I'll be buggered If I can get to grips with Richard Rogers. my favourite book has to be the classic horror - Pavorotti in the Dark - I purchased that for a tenner.

id like to think that i am the lovechild of an ill-starred union betwixt gm hopkins, albert camus and dylan thomas. however, id have to say that i am usually under the influence of toxic and occasionally illegal substances.

Only occasionally illegal? You mean sometimes they're ok? Blimey, Blair must be making (slow) progress...

Bo Fowler Douglas Adams Emile Zola George Orwell I'm not so much inspired by these authors, it's more that I shamelessly plagarise their work.

God, if you can plagiarise Zola, thou art a better man than I Gunga Din...

I am influenced somewhat by the likes of Chris Morris and a bloke called Tim. This is not necessarily a good thing, but since you don't know Tim, I don't think it matters too much.