We are pleased to dedicate this week’s Inspired By to Katie Delahanty, author of In Bloom.

Here, Katie tells us the five books she finds most inspirational to her writing and why…

 

Too many books, too many books! I’ve loved so many, and every single one of them influences me as a writer. My old loves have a funny way of popping up—in rhythm—in stolen moments that I want to recreate… As a newish writer I rely heavily on books that at one time gave me “all the feels” to inspire me to do the same. Here are a few:

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES by L.M. Montgomery

Anne. Who doesn’t love Anne? Quirky and sweet and funny and flawed… I’m so grateful to have lived her journey. And when I started writing the blog that would later become my first novel, I took comfort in the fact that ANNE was first published as a serial in a Sunday school paper. I felt like Anne and Lucy were cheering me on!

This is the cover my copy has, and it’s as rough around the edges.

 

ROXANNE by Jane Claypool Miner

I’ve been obsessed with Old Hollywood for as long as I can remember. It started with costuming and reenacting all of the dance numbers from White Christmas in our basement in Pittsburgh when I was three—so when I read this around age twelve, Roxanne and I had an instant connection. Having recently moved to California, it was through her eyes that I first saw Hollywood. IN BLOOM is, in many ways, my attempt to recreate what this book was to me.

 

 

TRAINSPOTTING by Irvine Welsh

I first read this book because I saw the movie—not the other way around, unfortunately—but I was still blown away. I adore the cast of characters and the pulpy darkness of the story, but what really gets me about this book is the language. It’s difficult to read the dialect at first, but once you get the hang of it (and somehow you do), you’re transported—you’re part of the crew, an insider, speaking in poems.

 

 

THE TIME TRAVELER’s WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger

All I can say is; I want to be this good someday…

 

ON WRITING by Stephen King

Sometimes I feel guilty for writing. Sometimes I’m overcome with self-loathing, wondering why I’m trying to do this. Sometimes I want to give up. Sometimes I’m on top of the world, flying high. Sometimes I think I’m crazy. This book reminds me that all of that is normal, and no matter what, just keep writing.