Has anyone else noticed that authors are incredibly themed creatures? Once I read something from an author and like it, I have to unearth their whole back catalogue, and by doing this I’ve noticed that many of them harp on and on about a given subject place or topic. It’s not a terrible thing I suppose; in fact I don’t think it can be avoided, because if they can come up with an average of 1000 combined pages of material relating to one thing, then it has to be a pretty integral part of who they are, right? Actually, maybe it’s a good thing, because when we pick up a book by our favourite author, it’s because we enjoy what they obsess about, and we know, to some extent, what to expect. Allow me to share their obsessions, but we can call it inspiration if you’d prefer. Of course, this is by no means a comprehensive list…
Author Preoccupation Titles
1. Joanne Harris
Food & Drink, Rural France, Magic
Blackberry Wine
Chocolat
Chocolat
The Lollipop Shoes
Five Quarters of the Orange
Five Quarters of the Orange
2. Tony Parsons
Infidelity and Families
The Family Way
One For My Baby
Man and Wife
Man and Boy
One For My Baby
Man and Wife
Man and Boy
3. Lily Brett
The Holocaust, Sex, Germs, Poos
New York
Too Many Men
Just Like That
Just Like That
4. Lisa Jewell
Yuppies with messed up love lives
Vince and Joy
A Friend of the Family
Ralph’s Party
Ralph’s Party
I think it's really funny how the lofty art of novel writing is merely a reflection of our mundane collection of fixations. So much for my delusions of grandeur; I wonder what will appear on this list in a few years, when I’ve written a few books. I shudder to think what people will be able to list as my obsessions…hahaha!
Minjiba Cookey © 2007
1 comments:
I can only say this because I myself am a culprit (at least to some, and I can see the future don't you know) but I do believe your obsessions will be to do with healthy eating, OCD and ranting (which I love) and centre around characters that don't see the point in being insouciant (yes I still love that word). I look forward to the first novel. I doubt mine will be anything more than shallow in comparison.
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