We are so excited to dedicate this week’s Inspired By to our lovely client and bestselling author, Kathleen Shoop. Here, she shares the books that have inspired her as a writer.

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

Read this book in every nook and cranny of our house in Pittsburgh. My sister and I passed this back and forth a dozen times, rereading and falling in love with Southern lore, tragedy, and all the definitions that romance lends to the written word. Definitely secured my interest in all things historic.

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

Another read at home and shuttled back and forth to my dear sister. I remember trying to take Marmee’s advice to be thoughtful and careful in every area of life. I failed awfully. My sister was very much like Jo, but her name was Beth!! For whatever reason this always stuck with me! Another foray into historical worlds for me!

Salem’s Lot by Stephen King

I read this in between life guard shifts and stations and while minding the first aid room (great spot to lay down and enjoy a scary tale!). But it was my final night of reading this book that sticks with me like glue– tucked away in my bed I could not put it down yet I was petrified! My parents were across the hall but it didn’t matter!! When I finally finished I got two hours sleep WITH the lights on!

Flowers in the Attic series by Virginia Andrews

I read all of these right in a row–making my parents take me back to B. Dalton for the next installment. It was the early 80’s! The Wild West of parenting years! I’m sure my parents had no idea what they were about but I inhaled them!

Anything by Jude Deveraux

In college I enjoyed a huge romance binge. I fell in love with this author and the endless stream of sultry tales and then spent half a summer at a friend’s house in California. Her mother’s (who was an Oxford graduate) library was stuffed top or bottom and end to end with Jude’s books! She happily supplied me with an endless stream of novels as her daughter and I toured the coast from St. Helena to Laguna beach! That was the summer I realized I was supposed to be a writer! It’s one of my fondest life memories.

Grab your copy of Kathleen Shoop’s most recent Historical Fiction, The Road Home.