My inspirations don't come
predominantly from fiction. I am often inspired by video games,
movies, and television. Final Fantasy VII and VIII, and other RPGs,
concepts like The Highlander and Blade Runner, all of those goofy
80's werewolf movies, the awesome science fiction I've seen,
and just about anything to do with Merlin, Star Wars, and Star Trek.
My greatest movie inspiration is
the “Wizard of Oz”. It hooked me on fantasy at a young age.
I have watched Dorothy dozens of times. I finally read the book as an
adult. The book is better in many ways, but it didn't give me the
same nightmarish imagery as the 1939 film.
When I was four, I dressed
as the Wicked Witch of the West for Halloween. It was scandalous—and
awesome! (I have done little
cross dressing since then.)
Music
is an inspiration to me. Not only when I'm writing, when I listen to
the sounds of Guns N Roses or Stone Temple Pilots, but also when I'm
not writing. The eerie moods of Pink Floyd or the ancient tones of
Led Zeppelin set a pace for my future imaginations.
I'm inspired by art and architecture. Google “fantasy art” and see all of
the wonderful designs on the internet. The imagery sets the tone for
my writing. Castles, as well, have pushed me in the direction I'm
going. I was fortunate enough to interact with castles as a child,
living in Germany. How could I touch the archaic, timeless stones and
not want to create something equally impressive?
Books have their place as well. Tolkien's “The Hobbit” and “Lord of the Rings”, Anne
Rice's “Vampire Chronicles”, Frank Herbert's “Dune”, Stephen
King's “It” and “Tommyknockers”, and Lloyd Alexander's
“Chronicles of Prydain” shaped my growth into fantasy.
These epic novels and series were enjoyable and educational. They've
taught me what a good story looks like. They've taught me what makes
characters real.
The common denominator of the above media are the images they put inside my
mind. They fill the well from which I draw ideas, inspirations,
plots, scenes, settings, characters. I enjoy taking the old and
adding to it the new—that part of me yet to be tapped,
that unique creativity only I have, because only I am me.
I am who I am because of
these things. They have shaped me as much as anything else has.
They've pushed me into creativity, if only by being so much fun that
I needed more. Only I can make more, just the way I want it.
I create for me, to
recapture that feeling I had when I was a child, watching Star Wars
or reading “The High King”. It's that feeling I seek when I
write. If I can return that feeling to those who read my books, I
will have completed a circle. The circle is destiny.
Every single creator of
the works I've listed above were inspired by others, by men and women or by nature.
They emulated that inspiration until they finally emulated
themselves. Then they gave the world something new and bold, and
inspired new generations of humans.
They returned the favor.
But I have a question. Am I attracted to these things because of the way I am, or am I the way I am because I've been marked by the things I've experienced in film, music, art, and books?
Which came first: the dinosaur or the egg?
Posts
