Our book group is reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The main character, Juliet, can't help falling in love with the people on Guernsey Island, and the authors help their readers fall in love with them, as well. Writing the book through letters enables the author to let the reader get into the heads of many different characters. Even though they are quirky and have some strange things to say, the characters are endearing, and the reader develops a true empathy
for the perilous situation they faced being occupied by the Germans during WWII. If you love book groups and understand the difficulty of writing, you will love this book.
As a side note, I was reading a blog chain where the authors talk about who started their dream of writing. I love the concept. I began thinking about this and realized that there were many authors that I loved reading, and I'm sure they had some influence. However, it wasn't until taking an AP English class that I got the bug. We wrote an essay a week, and I found that I enjoyed analyzing people and writing about their varied character traits. I had always kept a journal (probably one sign that I enjoyed writing), but had never really used writing as a craft. I wrote quite a few short stories after high school, and during college wrote something that I planned on developing into a novel. However, life took me in many directions, and I didn't start seriously writing again until after my children were all in school for the full day. Since then, I've been writing off and on. I've finished one book, and am working on its sequel, as well as another book. I intended for them to be YA realistic fiction, but because I don't really involve the characters in "adult" activities, they are more for middle grade.
Anyway, so I can't really say that one author influenced me over another--but realistic fiction was definitely my favorite. I loved Nancy Drew (not so realistic), the Little House series, the Betsy series, Anne of Green Gables, and any and all of the classics (which I didn't really get into until my first year out of high school).
