My Writing Style

Time for a little introduction.

You may have noticed my "Influenced By" list to the menu on your right. I thought I'd take a moment to explain it:

1) David Sedaris -the first book of his I read was Naked , followed by Me Talk Pretty One Day, which I originally thought was a Harlem Renaissance book (nothing could be further from the truth).

Sedaris is original and a true comedian, in the sense that he does not do funny things, he does things funny. From him I learned how to comedically question 'normal' life, poke fun at people, and a particular writing style where I make myself the protagonist while operating in a very antagonistic fashion.

2) Chris Crutcher -Crutcher resembes David Sedaris very muchly, in both life and writing style. His more famous books are "Stotan!" and "Staying Fat for Sara Byrnes".

I first read his autobiography (which was how I got turned on to him), King of the Mild Frontier. I loved his view on things and his hilarious personal experiences, of which it pleased me muchly to see woven, word for word, into his fictional stories. From him I learned how true life experience can be turned into money and fame, following the old quote "Writing allows you to turn the worst moments of your life into cash."

3) KA Applegate. I owe so much to her. She is the author of the Animorph series, which I was obsessed with for four years.
<--- The first Animorph book I ever read.

The Animorph series turned me onto fan fiction, which is where I got my real start with writing. The Animorphs also taught me drama, romance, and angst. Applegate herself influenced my writing style by making me want to turn every sentence into its own paragraph (I'm still struggling to overrule that first impressional training).

4) Tanuja Desai Hidier -Just a general inspiration to young women everywhere. She is beautiful and talented and successful. Who could want for a greater role model? (You can see her pictures on an author expose below)

5) James Thurber -One of the most brilliant writers I've ever met (literarily). His book "Lanterns and Lances" changed my life.
<---One of his drawings about himself and his wife, who never believes anything he says (This seal bit never actually happened).

It is an exploration of literature and assonance and dissonance and the curse/blessing of being a writer, particularly being a writer among ordinary people. He taught me the Letter Game, that it's okay to be paranoid cats will come back as humans to try and kill you, and never to invite more than one writer to a dinner party. Cheers, James.

6) Ray Bradbury -I was introduced to him through his famous book, Fahrenheit 451, which is very 1984ish, but better, I think.

The book was alright, but what I loved most was the interview he had in the back. Ray is the first author I ever encountered who sympathized with me on the vividness and realness of characters. I owe many great quotes and reassurances to him. He is an inspiration on possessed writing.


The WW series employs a mix of Ray Bradbury, KA Applegate, and James Thurber. My personal narratives emply David Sedaris and Christ Crutcher and James Thurber. OCAP is mainly David Sedaris.