annfosterbooks:

I’m so happy to be a part of the blog tour for Alice Kuipers’s new book for teens, The Death Of Us. Alice is  the bestselling author of four YA novels and a picture book. H ere’s her post!

Inspired by the top ten books on Facebook recently, you asked me to write about which three books have been the most influential upon me as a writer.

Three books? Only three?! I could tell you the three books I’ve read in the last couple of weeks that have influenced me as a writer – Station Eleven, Quiet, and The Paying Guests.

Every book you read influences you as a writer, it makes you see the world from a different perspective and opens you up to new experiences.

When I was younger, I travelled a lot, and now, with three small children, it’s harder to travel, but I’ve been to a dystopic world and post First World War England with my Kindle just in the last few days. There are books that stand out, however. Books that have really influenced me as a writer. That list might change day-to-day, month-to-month, but here are three – only three – that I want to share with you.

1- Charlotte’s Web by E.B.White:

The killer opening line of this book has stayed in my mind for years - “Where’s Papa going with that axe?” said Fern to her mother as they were setting the table for breakfast. White’s spare, no nonsense approach to language teaches me how to craft a great sentence. But more than that, Charlotte’s Web is about the power of language to transform us. As Charlotte the spider makes words in her web, she saves Wilbur’s life. Reading this book as a child, I remember feeling alive and thrilled by this idea. White tackles dark themes with humour, grace and fun. This book continues to show me what’s possible as a children’s author with its daring approach. I love it.

2- When I was eighteen, I bought an inexpensive Round-The-World airplane ticket. I travelled from Fiji to Cambodia, via numerous other countries, on my own for nine months. I had a small backpack and to my delight I discovered an informal library system amongst the other backpackers. When I finished a book, I could trade it in with someone else’s book and travel on. None of us wanted to carry too much so the system worked perfectly and I was exposed to all sorts of books along the way that I may never have otherwise met. The book that influenced me most as a writer during this trip was Sexing The Cherry by Jeanette Winterson. It’s a book about an orphan and his keeper, The Dog Woman, set in the seventeenth century. The writing is inventive, wild, lively and the book made me write and take notes like I never had done before. I had a journal with me on the trip and I originally thought I would write a diary of everything I did. But after reading Sexing The Cherry, I was reminded how much more I loved fiction than real life. I wrote more and more fiction (completely derivative of Jeanette Winterson, but I loved doing it). I carried a world map on that trip and I had a quotation from Sexing The Cherry written across the top: “Maps are magic. In the bottom corner are whales; at the top, cormorants carrying pop-eyed fish. In between is a subjective account of the lie of the land. Rough shapes of countries that may or may not exist, broken red lines marking paths that are a best hazardous, at worst already gone. Maps are constantly being re-made as knowledge appears to increase. But is knowledge increasing or is detail accumulating?”

3- The final book I’m going to chose is a book about writing. On Writing by Stephen King is one of the finest books on the craft of writing that I’ve ever read. I like King’s work as an author, but I wasn’t convinced that his book about writing would speak to me the way that it ultimately did. But an editor persuaded me to read On Writing and I’ve been ever grateful. King demonstrates both a love of writing and a respect for the hard work involved. His honesty and bravery in this book are deeply moving. And he understand writing so well that every page has a useful tip or idea for an aspiring writer. I recommend it widely to anyone interested in writing themselves.

As I said earlier, there are so many books I could have chosen, so many books I’ve loved and been inspired by. A book is the best teacher for a writer and I’ve been lucky to spend so much of my life reading and being taught how to write by a wealth of great teachers.

Thanks so much for stopping by, Alice! You can pick up a copy of The Death Of Us wherever books are sold, and learn more about Alice from her tumblr, website, goodreads and Twitter.