Hey guys! I’m super excited to have my pal Eric Smith, author & publishing rockstar at Quirk Books, here on the blog to celebrate his debut YA fantasy — which was out this past Tuesday and we’ll be celebrating TONIGHT here in Philly at Tattooed Mom!
I love hearing what books inspired authors so I’m excited that Eric is going to be dishing on what books inspired HIM while writing Inked!!
Like most kids, I grew up reading Young Adult novels. My parents regularly took me to the library to pick up whatever I wanted. However, most of my reading was focused on classic science fiction, adventure, and fantasy novels, and I’m lucky enough to have grown up with a family that really encouraged my ravenous reading habits. I read a ton of Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Louis Stevenson as a kid. It wasn’t until a few years ago, that I revisited YA for the first time.
Why’d I come back? Well, here are the five books that made that happen, and inspired me to attempt writing in that genre.
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (Ransom Riggs): By day, I work at Quirk Books, an awesome indie publisher in Philadelphia. And in the Fall of 2012, we published Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Now, as the marketing and social media guy, it’s important for me to be familiar with the communities I’m sending books to. So while Ransom’s debut was in the works, I started picking up other YA novels I saw bloggers talking about.
I read. And I read. And I read some more.
Suddenly, I found myself devouring two or more YA novels a week, taking advantage of Kindle deals, picking up novels I spotted on blogs, and catching up on a genre I hadn’t been a part of in years. It also introduced me to some of my now-favorite YA authors (some of whom I’ll list below), including Suzanne Collins, Beth Revis, and Kat Zhang.
Working on the marketing for Ransom’s book, gave me the kick-in-the-pants to start reading the genre again, and immediately made me want to start writing in it. I wanted to tell stories of magic and adventure, much like the books I’d read as a kid and the novels I was now reading as an adult.
I’m thrilled to see Ransom where he is now, and really glad I got to promote those books of his. He inadvertently gave me a big push in the right direction.
SOMETHING STRANGE & DEADLY (Susan Dennard): Ah, this series. I talk about Susan Dennard’s amazing steampunk-zombie-fantasy series whenever I can, to the point that it likely annoys my friends and followers. But oh well. Deal With It Dot Gif. It’s a favorite of mine, and one of the books I picked up when I started doing some more “I wonder if I can write in this genre” research. I immediately devoured her awesome first book, and followed the series right after.
She also has a really great blog, where she dishes out advice and tips to writers. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re writing.
BLACK HOLE SUN (David Macinnis Gill): Ah, this sci-fi series. It’s like a Young Adult version of Firefly on Mars, with pop culture references to World of Warcraft smattered in. Gill’s snarky characters and quick dialogue showed me that you could have that the sarcastic, snippy characters I wanted to write could totally work in an imagined world.
I also think his series is incredible underrated. If you haven’t checked these books out, please do. They are so hilarious and exciting. One of my favorite pieces of YA science fiction.
HERO (Perry Moore): Originally, I was really interested in writing some kind of superhero story, and the choices in YA superhero tales were far and in between. Perry Moore’s amazing novel, Hero, broke my heart and caused plenty of ugly crying, but showed me the real power of what YA fiction could do. Stuff that, probably as a kid, I didn’t recognize right away. It could teach you the importance of being true to yourself, accepting others, etc.
It’s still one of my favorite Young Adult novels, and probably one of my favorite books ever, period.
OF POSEIDON (Anna Banks): Anna’s YA romance series about mermaids was another one of the early YA books that I picked up. It was an eBook deal, and I read through it pretty quickly, and actually learned about a lot of authors thanks to her on Twitter.
She’s great at blending elements of fantasy and romance, something I really wanted to do in my own writing. Seriously check out her series, and keep an eye out for Joyride, her next book due out this year. As of this post, I’m about halfway through it, and it is just fantastic.
Thanks Jamie, for having me! And readers, go ahead and enter the lil’ giveaway below for a chance to win a bundle of the books I just mentioned! One lucky winner will get a copy of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Something Strange and Deadly, Black Hole Sun, Hero, Of Poseidon, and of course, an eBook of INKED. Good luck!
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to Eric we have a nice giveaway bundle for you! One lucky winner will win a copy of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Something Strange and Deadly, Black Hole Sun, Hero, Of Poseidon, and of course, an eBook of INKED!
*US only
Emma A says
Oh goodness…I have almost no clue as to what book got me into reading sci-fi and fantasy; I think I have been reading them my entire life. A couple of books that I read later on in life that did make an impact would have to be City of Bones by Cassandra Clare and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, but what really got me started was The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, I have been hooked ever since reading this trilogy. Thank you!
Susan says
Graceling by Kristin Cashore got me into the fantasy genre.
Deanna says
Hmm…I guess what got me into the Sci-fi/ fantasy genre was because I grew up watching Star Trek so it was never really a choice for me. haha.
Lindsey says
I’ve been meaning to read Poseidon for a while now and just haven’t gotten to it! Inked sounds super interesting. Do you know the correct pronunciation of the main character’s name?
Breenah says
I’d have to give credit to my husband because he LOVES fantasy movies (DragonHeart is his fave) and so I started reading similar books.
Danielle says
Twilight gave me my start in fantasy/supernatural YA. After that I discovered contemporary YA and didn’t read much fantasy, but Alice in Zombieland gave me a renewed love in the fantasy genre.
Melissa says
I fell in love with Fantasy thanks to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Prydain Chronicles. I wasn’t much of a reader at all until I picked those books up, but I’ve read pretty obsessively ever since.
Janice D says
I really love this post because this genre has been threaded into my reading since I was young, so there was no set of books that really pulled me in. I could make an argument for Harry Potter, but it still wasn’t the only one. This post was inspiring, but also gave me a wonderful list of books to add to my to-read list!
Shannon says
A Wrinkle in Time, way back in the day, was my first venture into fantasy/sci-fi genre. And to this day I’m still a fan, most recently I’m loving the Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown.
Alexa S. says
I love, love, love hearing about what authors love to read and what has influenced their writing! I’m right with you on Susan’s Something Strange and Deadly series, Eric. It’s one of my favorite series too!
Christina C. says
I’m not sure what originally got me into the genre, but there are so many good books and that’s usually the kind I enjoy reading.
Natalie says
Those are great books to be influenced by!!! My principle actually recommended Miss. Peregrine’s House for Peculiar Children to me, so glad she did! Thank you for the giveaway!
Danni says
My favourite fantasy book is a book I read just last month and it’s my #1 book of 2014! It’s Snow Like Ashes by Sara Raasch c:
Heather says
One of my favorite fantasy books is Stardust by Neil Gaiman. I’ve been hooked ever since. I’ve got Inked on my TBR list and cannot wait to read it!
Krista says
I really want to read something strange and deadly!! Sounds amazing
Mallory @ The Leaning Tower of Tomes says
Yes, Eric Smith ROCKS! I’ve been reading fantasy books for as long as I can remember, with Harry Potter probably my inaugural foray into the genre. Of the books Eric’s listed, I’ve only read Miss Peregrine’s, but I’ve heard great things about Something Strange and Deadly and Of Poseidon.
Katherine says
I really love the Something Strange and Deadly series too! Susan Dennard’s blog is so helpful for me. I’ve haven’t read Of Posidon yet, but it’s on my TBR list.
Emily Ardoin says
Miss Peregrine’s is seriously awesome! I loved The Giver as a kid, and all of the dystopian/sci-fi fun that’s come out lately is so intriguing!
Holly @ Nut Free Nerd says
I’ve never heard of Hero before, and I’ve never read a superhero book before either. I’ll definitely have to check that one out!
It’s also sooo cool that you got to work on the marketing of Ransom Rigg’s books!! You have an awesome job! 🙂
Abi says
Honestly I was never really big into Sci-Fi until I watched the TV series Firefly last summer. Before I thought Sci-Fi was pretty much just like Fantasy. Then I watched “Firefly” and I discovered the wonderful and crazy things you could do in Sci-Fi that is so much different than Fantasy. From then on I was hooked, I don’t have many books in the Sci-Fi genre, but that’s going to change in the next few years.
In my younger teenage years Lord of the Rings was my favorite fantasy story.
Bethany Hart says
The reason I started focusing on fantasy as a a reading genre was Cornelia Funke’s book Dragon Rider. I’m really interested in Black Hole Sun.
erinf1 says
Anne McCaffery’s Harper Hall Trilogy 🙂 I found them in the library as a 12 year old and just inhaled! Thanks for the fun post and giveaway!
Carmel says
I am not really a fan of sci-fi but I enjoyed Unremembered by Jessica Brody so much! And my favorite adventure books: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen and Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers! Thanks to Eric for this amazing book prizes!
April says
Sci-Fi is one of my favorite genres ever so its hard to narrow it down to my favorite but an underrated author I adore is Jennifer Rush and her Altered series. I haven’t read a ton of fantasy yet that isn’t mainly on the paranormal side but I love the Iron Fey series. I’m currently reading the Mistborn trilogy for the first time and it’s an eye opening experience with the cool magic system and world building. I didn’t really know how much I loved these genres until I read these books and now I’d like to branch out and read more of it in 2015. These books you are giving away have been on my radar for a long time plus Eric’s book sounds fantabulous so thanks for the chance to win! 🙂
Becca says
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas really got me hooked on the fantasy genre as a whole! Before that, it’d have to be Harry Potter 🙂