Rise and Shine with Romance: Diana Gabaldon's Literary Influences

By - August 23, 2013

Wrapping up the RISE AND SHINE WITH ROMANCE segment of TRADE THE DAY, I'm thrilled to have New York Times bestselling author of the OUTLANDER novels, Diana Gabaldon!  She's here to tell you all about her literary influences, but first, a couple of quick reminders:

 

And don't forget to check out the bottom of this post for how to win a signed copy of Diana Gabaldon's Voyager, as well as an additional giveaway from author of romantic suspense, Daco!  Now, I'll turn it over to Diana for her guest post:

"Literary Influences"

By Diana Gabaldon © 2013

I know writers of novels who say they don't read fiction at all while working on a book, out of fear of "being influenced" by what they read.   I am struck by horror at the thought of going years without being able to read fiction (though perhaps these people write faster than I do, and take long vacations between books?)—but more struck by the sheer silliness of this.

Everything writers see, think, and experience influences their work.  How could it not?   Now, it's true that people do ask writers, "Where do you get your ideas?" and that writers--out of facetiousness or desperation--give answers like, "From the Sears catalog" (or "From Ideas.com," depending on the writer's vintage).   But the truth is that writers get ideas from every damn thing they see, hear, smell, touch, taste, think, feel, or do—including the books they read.

Naturally, one wants to develop a unique voice, but do kids learn to talk without ever being talked to?   You have an individual voice, by virtue of being an individual.  And your individuality is composed of your essential God-given spark of personality and of the sum total of the things you encounter in life.   Now, whether each encounter is a bruising collision or a fruitful act of love…who knows?   But all of it is grist to a writer's mill; so much should be obvious, if one reads at all widely.

Personally, I learned to read at the age of three, and have read non-stop ever since.   You can read a lot of books in fifty-eight years.  I'm sure that every single book I've ever read has had some influence on me as a writer, whether negative (I've read a lot of books with the mounting conviction that I would never in my life do something like that) or positive.

When I first began to write fiction, though, I was deliberately looking for positive influences, and luckily had quite a few to hand.  During the writing of my first novel (OUTLANDER/CROSS STITCH, which I wrote for practice, not intending to ever show it to anyone), I consciously considered the art and techniques of these five writers in particular:

Charles Dickens – Nobody does characters like Dickens did, and that's why his books endure.  He told excellent stories and painted a vivid portrait of Victorian society, but that society consists of people who live, breathe, and speak on the page.  I learned from him the art of evoking a character: naming and describing people in such vivid detail as to make them live.

Robert Louis Stevenson – One of the earliest and best of the romance writers—back when "romance" meant adventure, excitement and escape from daily life, not love stories.  TREASUREISLAND?  KIDNAPPED?  THE MASTER OF BALLANTRAE?  The titles alone are enough to transport you, but the clean prose and vivid characters bring you back again and again.

Dorothy L. Sayers – Mistress of dialogue, character, humor and social nuance.  From her, I learned that dialogue is the single most defining trait of character, and just how much you can do with accent, idiom, and dialect.   Also, that a character is embedded in his or her social matrix, and that matrix is as important as the individual's personal characteristics.

John D. MacDonald – John D. was a prolific writer, with more than five hundred novels to his credit, in more than one genre, but was best known for his Travis McGee mystery/thrillers.  From him, I learned how to sustain characters over the course of a long series, how to maintain a narrative drive, how to write action, and how to pace a story.

P.G. Wodehouse – one of the most popular humorists ever.   Pelham Grenville Wodehouse taught me how much sheer amusement you can derive from the English language—and the art of constructing a plot that works so seamlessly that it doesn't matter how absurd it is.    And no one who's ever had the pleasure of meeting Bertie Wooster and his gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves—let alone his bevy of friends and nemeses (Gussie Fink-Nottle and his Aunt Agatha, to mention only two)—will ever forget them.

I learned a great deal from all these writers—and from hundreds more.  What every writer on this list of personal muses has in common, though, is great skill in the matter of creating characters.   And character, I think, is the single most important thing in fiction.  You might read a book once for its interesting plot—but not twice.   When you meet a fascinating person in the pages of a book, though, you come back, discovering new relevance, seeing new depths—or just enjoying the renewal of a long and lasting friendship.

 

***Diana is giving away a signed copy of the third book in the OUTLANDER series, Voyager, to one lucky commenter on this post.  So, don't forget to comment!***

ABOUT DIANA:  Diana Gabaldon is the author of the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling OUTLANDER novels, described by Salon magazine as “the smartest historical sci-fi adventure-romance story ever written by a science Ph.D. with a background in scripting ‘Scrooge McDuck’ comics.”

The adventure began in 1991 with the best-selling classic, OUTLANDER, and has continued through seven more NYT best-selling novels—DRAGONFLY IN AMBER, VOYAGER, DRUMS OF AUTUMN, THE FIERY CROSS, A BREATH OF SNOW AND ASHES and AN ECHO IN THE BONE, with twenty-five million copies of her works in print worldwide. She is currently working on the eighth novel in the series, WRITTEN IN MY OWN HEART’S BLOOD, which is scheduled for release on March 25, 2014.

Ms. Gabaldon’s successful writing career has been fruitful in different ways. She has written a spin-off series of mysteries featuring Lord John Grey, one of the characters in the OUTLANDER world, created a graphic novel (illustrated story) titled THE EXILE set within the original storyline of OUTLANDER, as well as publishing THE OUTLANDISH COMPANION, a non-fiction companion to her work which provides details on the settings, background, characters, research and writing of novels in general. A second volume of the COMPANION is in progress but no release date is scheduled.

Gabaldon’s popular writing style and memorable characters have been noticed by the Hollywood set as well. The OUTLANDER books were recently picked up by Sony Television for production as a cable television series on the Starz network. Filming is scheduled to begin in September 2013 with the first season (compromising sixteen episodes) scheduled to air sometime in spring of 2014. Long-time television writer and producer Ronald D. Moore (“Star Trek:  the Next Generation,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and “Battlestar Galactica”) and his production company, Tall Ships Productions, will be heading this long-anticipated project and has vowed to create a “faithful depiction” of this beloved story.

Diana Gabaldon and her husband, Doug Watkins, have three adult children (all intelligent, funny, and self-supporting), two fat dachshunds, and live mostly in Scottsdale, Arizona.  Learn more about Diana and her books:

Visit Diana's Website:  www.dianagabaldon.com
On Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/AuthorDianaGabaldon
On Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Writer_DG

 

With An Additional Giveaway From

DACO

***Another two lucky commenters will win an e-copy of The Libra Affair by Daco!***

ABOUT THE LIBRA AFFAIR:  Debut author Daco weaves a convoluted spy game, rather like a Jason Bourne movie -- only instead of the usual male secret agent, we get Jordan Jakes. And she is more than capable of rocking your world. The story is not necessarily a traditional romance, with feelings being demonstrated more by their actions in very difficult situations instead of in the bedroom, but it's apparent that Jordan and Ben love each other a great deal. What the story may lack in romance is made up for with gritty intensity and plenty of international espionage.

Ben, a scientist working with NASA, can't believe it when Jordan, his girlfriend of one year, suddenly breaks up with him and disappears without a trace. He asks an ex-girlfriend who works with Homeland Security for help, and they manage to track Jordan to the airport, where he discovers she has adopted an alias and boarded a flight to Iran. That same contact helps Ben obtain a visa and he follows Jordan's trail, not knowing at all what to expect. When events go haywire, it's up to Jordan to complete her mission and get them both to safety. 

RT Book Reviews

Find out more at authordaco.com.

 

Comment for your chance to win both Diana's and Daco's giveaways- leave an e-mail address for contact in case you win!

 

What books or authors got you interested in reading or writing?