15. Midway question!
Tell us about a writer you admire, whether professional or not!
My answer for this one is obvious: Christopher Stasheff. I admire him for many reasons, not the least of which is because he's the world's best dad. But in terms of Christopher Stasheff the writer? I am extremely impressed by his dicipline in writing. He sits down every morning, 5 days a week, and tries to write at least one-three pages, starting by going over what he wrote the day before. Sometimes he writes more, but never less than a page of new material. Growing up he would get up early to write while the family was still asleep so there were no distractions, then when we kids were at school he's write in the later morning and early afternoon. This steady pace of writing enabled him to write and publish over 40 books in the last 40 years. He pretty much always finishes what he starts and usually within the year (rewrites can take a little longer though). He has showed me that you can be a successful writer, but he's also amazingly humble (too humble actually).
And of course, not only does he write a lot -- he's really good. I'm not saying every book he ever wrote is fantastically awesome (honestly I haven't read every book, I've only read like five or six - for shame!), but there are a lot of them that are. He's a great storyteller who writes wonderful characters and is probably the best writer of fight scenes I've come across. One of my absolute favorite books of all time is A Wizard in Bedlam - and not just because he wrote but because it's one of the coolest, most awesome books I've ever read. He did an amazing job of world building. You can learn so much about him by reading his books. He is definately the person who has inspired me the most in my life, not just as a writer but as an individual as well.
For more about Christopher Stasheff visit his awesome website:
christopher.stasheff.com
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