None of this would have happened if I wasn’t so inspired by the below creative works. And my books wouldn’t have had half their quality if I didn’t have incredible examples to learn from:
William Goldman: for the epic love story, and kidnapping in Princess Bride.
Robert Louis Stevenson: for teaching me how to write villains, in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and for the unbelievable dialogue between Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver at the end of Treasure Island, which inspired the scene where Julie Evans stands up to Eduard Davies.
Arie Stav: for Knights of the Round Table, where I learned all about Camelot.
Douglas Adams: for teaching me what funny means, in the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Terry Pratchett: for how great magic can get, and how strong a young female character can be in Wee Free Men, “Crivens Lass!” — my one-mention tribute to the Nac Mac Feegles.
Laura Donnelly: for creating an outstanding portrayal of Jenny in Outlander; the dramatic temper was my inspiration for Jane’s humor in Forbidden Road.
J. R. R. Tolkien: for the journey of self-discovery in the Hobbit, for the short story Aragorn and Arwen who were my basis for Ban and Vivienne, and for all the elves.
Edward Kitsis & Adam Horowitz: for the way they wrote parallel timelines in Once Upon a Time.
Stephenie Meyer: for the down-to-earth style of writing, and showing me how to get hooked.
William Shakespeare: for the mystery that is Romeo — how on Earth are we still so in love with the male character who killed his wife’s cousin, who was like a brother to her, and then killed her fiancé too?
Piers Anthony: for building a character that struggles without active powers in a magical world, in A Spell for Chameleon, which inspired Harley.
E. L. James: for creating the ultra-successful male character, that if added one more area of perfection, would be the classic opportunity to break into tragedy. And boy do I love writing villains…
Meredith Wild: for writing the best ever breakup plot line in Hardpressed. Inspired, I mapped it and then did my own thing (as usual) in Dragon Fire. I wish someone wrote a full fan-fic here. The only thing that tops it is Austen’s persuasion and…
Jane Austen: for the many times I laughed through six amazing novels and for the epic tension between Darcy and Elizabeth.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson: for creating an absolutely absurd King Arthur, and since it’s public domain, for the couple of great quotes right there.
Lucy Montgomery: for Anne of Green Gables’ mention of Tennyson’s Elaine.
Greek mythology: for the journey into darkness, Charon and the river Styx, and for Erebus — the darkness that gets to Mark.
Vivianne Crowley: for the book Wicca, where I learned about the Maiden, the Mother, the Crone, and for your amazing life’s work!
Wikipedia: for the notorious Fergus Mór of Dalriada—I LOVED him; great material right there and he was actually REAL. And also for Gwyn ap Nudd, for the Marriage of Sir Gawain, and lots of other times where research took over my senses.
Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and William Nicholson: for introducing the legend of Maleagant to the world in the movie First Knight with Sean Connery, Richard Gere, and Julia Ormond.
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