For this week’s edition of Inspired By is dedicated to our FRC2014 author of the week, Marissa Stapley!  Grab your copy of Mating for Life on Amazon and check out the books that inspired her while writing!

 

 

 Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery

“This is the first novel I read on my own, when I was seven. My copy is a first Canadian edition my great aunt gave me, directly from her own shelf. In case it ever got lost, I wrote my name, address, and a message inside of it. Recently, my husband and I decided to look up, just for fun, what first Canadian editions of Anne of Green Gables that haven’t been written in sell for. Up to $25,000, apparently. And yet, this particular book is priceless to me. It’s the book that made me want to be a writer, mostly because it’s the book that made me realize just how powerful (and heartbreaking) a wild imagination can be. I also felt a strong connection to Montgomery, which was reinforced when I discovered that our birthdays were on the same day – and exactly 100 years apart. I decided I was fated to be a novelist. Of course, my seven-year-old self had no idea how hard I’d have to work to achieve my dream, but I don’t regret a thing.”

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

“My dad loaned me this book when I was eleven or so—at the time, I didn’t quite grasp it, so I’ve returned to it, many times throughout my life. One of the best things about this book is the opening line: “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God …” As the daughter of a newspaper reporter, I understand that one can never underestimate the power of a strong lead line. Irving nailed it with this one – and every line that follows. This novel made me want to write because it helped me see the kind of characters one can create: characters like Owen Meany, for example, who are so strange, so compelling, so wholly unusual that everything they say is ALL IN CAPS! It’s a feat I hope to achieve one day. (Well, maybe not the all caps thing; that’s already been done.)”

The Position by Meg Wolitzer

“Until I read this book, I thought I was the only one who believed I had been scarred for life after discovering The Joy of Sex on her parents’ bookshelf. The Position was also painfully funny, shockingly sad, and absolutely unique. It’s the first novel I read by Wolitzer – and I realized the moment I closed it that this was the kind of writer I wanted to be one day.”

Runaway Alice Munro

“It’s almost as difficult to pick a favourite collection of Munro stories as it is to pick a favourite book in general. But there is a story in this particular collection that is, in my opinion, one of the best representations of her incomparable writing talent. It’s called “Tricks” and is about a woman named Robin who, through missed opportunity and mistaken identity, ends up leading a lonely life. Like many of Munro’s stories, this one spans an entire lifetime. It’s a gorgeous, tragic, complex story that made me realize that any of the book ideas I’ve ever had, stories it would take me tens of thousands of words to get to the end of, could likely be dealt with in about ten pages by Munro, tops. She’s just that good. I know I’ll never be as good—but in the immortal words of Matthew McConaughey during his Oscar acceptance speech, we all need someone to chase.”

The Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

“I think this was the first novel I ever read that felt like it was for me, and my generation, but that wasn’t light, fluffy or slapstick funny, that didn’t deal with relationships in an overly romanticized way. It felt a bit like reading Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, but when Margaret is in her twenties and navigating life, love, and heartache. I think every generation should have a book like this, one that can truly resonate. I would think of this book sometimes, as I wrote Mating for Life. I wanted my writing to be just as real, just as raw, and just as right for those who would eventually choose to read it. “