An Author's Influences

One year is ending, another soon to start and although I don't like New Year's resolutions, I must do more with this blog. The best place to start may be with those authors who influenced my own writing. I write to help people relax, to help them find respite from our hurried world, and to weave a story unlike most of those on the front tables of the chain bookstores. One reviewer said that I write in a "plain-spoken" honest style. That's fine with me; I'm no Shakespeare, but then why reinvent a style that was worked for hundreds of years? I want to write well, but in a straight-forward, simple style, in line with the simplicity, peace, and serenity of my characters and settings. In no particular order, then, I present the authors who have influenced me in my own writing:

Earl Hamner: Best known as the creative genius behind the successful television show, The Walton's, Earl Hamner writes of simple people doing simple, everyday things. He showed us that honoring family, faith, and community were good things. He showed us that caring for those less fortunate, even when you have little yourself, is important. He showed us that loving family members could face major impediments, disagree, and move on to an even better relationship. He showed us that small town values and the needs of the community sometimes outweigh personal needs. Earl showed us that common, everyday people can be glorified in word and on screen. He showed us that ordinary can be extraordinary.

Philip Gulley: Quaker minister in Indiana and best-selling author of novels loosely grouped into the Harmony series and non-fiction books often called the porch tales, Phil takes us deep into the stories of his youth and experiences in small town America. He also shows us that ordinary is extraordinary and that everyday life in a fictional small town in middle America can grab readers and keep them asking for more. Phil also writes in a simple, straight-forward style, never using ten words when one will do. His characters are so ordinary: an insurance salesman and lifelong Quaker who doesn't understand Quakers are supposed to be peaceful and loving, a lawyer turned coffee shop owner, a car dealer, etc., etc. All the people who make up a small town are brought to the light of day. Such characters will never be famous, rich, powerful, or be part of the jet-set. However, Phil understands better than most that ordinary people are real people and deserve a chance to stand in the spotlight.

Jan Karon: Creator of the small town of Mitford, North Carolina, and its most famous citizen, an Episcopal priest named Father Tim, Jan continues the celebration of the ordinary people who live and work in an ordinary small town. Cynthia, Father Tim's wife, breaks the mold of small-town ordinary by being a world-famous author and illustrator, but such a character adds salt to the stew of everyday characters mixing and mingling in the small mountain town. Jan reminds us that there is value in everyone, even those who appear to be the dregs of society or those, like the children Father Tim and the local doctor rescue, who have slipped through the safety nets set up for their protection. Jan also reminds us to find beauty and inspiration in the first blossoms of spring, the sun rising over a mountain, and the comfort known by those who are married to their best friend.

Garrison Keillor: Literally the voice of small town America, Garrison has brought us the stories of Lake Woebegone for more than thirty years on A Prairie Home Companion on public radio. He let us know that there is life in small towns, humor in the actions of ordinary people, and value in the lives of everyone. We've laughed and cried and chuckled over his characters and stories, more than a few of which are probably true.

Tracy Kidder: The only true non-fiction author on this list, Tracy does the same in non-fiction that the others do in their fictional small towns. Tracy takes us inside the lives of often ordinary people and writes a story that reads like a novel. A quartet of men building a house and the family that will occupy the finished product, a fifth-grade school teacher, two men and their friends in a nursing home, a group of men and women designing a new computer. All ordinary people, some with exceptional skills maybe, but all ordinary working people doing the things that keep small and large towns humming. Tracy routinely spends a year or more with each subject, seeing how they live and work and interact with others and then reports to us in a style that could be a novel. His work is magnificent.

All of these and many others have influenced me, showing me that the ordinary can be extraordinary, that small town values are important, and that there is a market for the type of books that do not always make it to the front tables in the chain bookstores. All of these authors have proven that front-table books need not follow the patterns preferred by the industry. All have been there, all will probably be there again, and all of them give me hope that I will join them on those tables.

Until I have a contract with a major publishing house, I will continue to write and publish myself through www.quakerhillpress.com, my own company. I will continue to follow my promise to my readers: fine literature for gentle readers.

Happy New Year! Keep reading in 2010!

Frank Comstock

Author of Charlie's Gift and When Past and Future Meet

Short stories published in several venues, including Types and Shadows.