A king stands on a stone wall holding his sword aloft. Below him is a large army with many long spears pointing in the air. Behind the army is a grassy plane leading up to mountains in the distance, with a grey sky above them.

Influences

Helen Lowe. The epic fantasy author of the wonderful Wall of Night series. Currently my favourite books and exherting the most influence on my writing. Helen's books have inspired me to write.

J.R.R. Tolkien. I will forever love the epic high fantasy of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings that we fantasy writers owe so much to.

Diana Wynne Jones. Before there was Harry Potter, there was The Lives of Christopher Chant and many other amazing magical stories by this prolific author.

Rosemary Sutcliff. Her books set in Roman Britain are a joy to read but I especially love her semi-historical Arthurian tale Sword at Sunset!

J.K. Rowling. Speaking of Harry Potter. I love these stories so much. I am collecting the full-size, hardcover illustrated editions and they are exquisite.

Cecelia Holland. My love of high fantasy has always been matched only by my love of history. I have a BA majoring in History and Cecelia Holland's beautifully crafted historical novels will always be dear to me, especially Jerusalem.

Raymond E. Feist. His novel, Magician, was the defining read of my late teen years. One of my novel projects is strongly inspired by this classic coming of age fantasy adventure story, alhough now it is changing a little with the more recent influence of Helen Lowe's books. I have read and loved many of his other novels set in his epic fantasy world and most especially the amazing Empire trillogy co-written with Janny Wurts.

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