Who inspires you?

It’s not a secret that I’m a huge Austenite. I love Jane’s witty, comedic, and satiric style and it has even inspired my own work. And how can you not love Ms. Harper Lee??? To Kill A Mockingbird is beyond brilliant. Her charming and at times casual style inspires me to try new angles in my writing. Jack Cavanaugh is also a favorite of mine. His Songs in the Night series is the only real depiction of WWII and the Holocaust in the Christian market, everyone else just misses the mark. Tosca Lee is edgy and unique. Ann Howard Creel’s laid back approach to her style is great. Janette Oke and Lynn Austin also make my favorite authors who have inspired me in many ways.

Though I esteem these particular authors, I still cannot say they inspired me to put pen to paper. I’ve been writing for ten years now and it was just recently I have found the muse to my writing. However we will have to go back even farther. Back to when I had just turned nine and my sister was celebrating her 12^th birthday. My sister received a present that would not only inspire her life, but mine as well….The Diary of Anne Frank.

I became fascinated with Anne and her world, the holocaust, and WWII. I searched the library shelves on what I could find about her. By 2001 I felt I had watched ABC’s Anne Frank: The Whole Story and it truly impacted my life. That autumn I picked up Anne’s diary and became enthralled. I couldn’t believe how much we had in common. She felt the same feelings I did. Had the same insecurities I had. And still in all of her suffering, she was so much stronger than I would have been. In a way she became a heroine to me. In the 10^th grade I wrote my term paper about Anne and her life.

I may have been a little kid when I first was introduced to Anne, but she was and still is a very important person in my life. She inspired me to write.