Dani's Writing Journey

Every avid reader has a book or books that inspired them in some way. Not every book has to encourage you to be a better person or have a better outlook on life, but it can instead inspire you to find a genre of fiction you never knew you could enjoy. Throughout my life, I have read many books that have inspired me, but three stand out.

Salem’s Lot – Stephen King

The first book I ever read by Stephen King is his vampire novel, “Salem’s Lot” (no sparkly vampires are found in this novel). I read this book during the 2009 vampire trend. At the time, I didn’t think I would ever want to reread another novel with vampires, as it seemed so overdone after Twilight (no hate to Twilight; there was just so much vampire-related content at this time that it became a bit annoying). But after watching the movie “Children of the Corn”, based off of King’s short story with the same title I figured I should give his work a chance (especially since he has such a big following within the horror fandom and I love horror movies). After my first read of Salem’s Lot, I fell in love with King’s writing style and found not only my favorite author but my favorite genre of novels.

Although this book didn’t directly impact how I view the world or change how I interact with other people, I found an author that I will follow until he chooses to retire from writing (which I hope never happens, cause I will never tire of King’s works). With every novel of his that I read, I am inspired to write poetry that is as terrifying as a King Novel.

The Handmaiden’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

I love a good dystopian novel! Most of the books I’ve read for school (1984, Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451) have been some of my favorites. They are basically a what-not-to-do when in a position of power, and Margaret Atwood’s novel, “The Handmaidens Tale” is precisely that. This is a novel in which women are used to incubate children for wealthy and high-ranking officials within the political realm, and the act of trying to produce these children is chilling (and honestly downright disgusting). This novel is the reason I now believe dystopian novels can be considered a horror novel; the fear many women have in this political environment is embedded in this book. Obviously this is an extreme and dramatize version of this fear but it hints at the control many women – feel they – are losing at this current space in time.

The Third Gilmore Girl – Kelly Bishop

For any fans of the show Gilmore Girls, Kelly Bishop’s memoir “The Third Gilmore Girl” is a must-read! I have watched the show too many times to count at this point, but I vividly remember not loving Emily Gilmore and how she treated her daughter Lorelai. The control she (Emily) tried to exert over her daughter bothered me, but as an adult, I see that she just wanted the best for her and didn’t know how to handle the daughter she had given birth to.

I listened to the audiobook of “The Third Gilmore Girl”, which was read by Bishop. I love when memoirs are read by the author; it feels much more personal, and I felt like I was having a conversation with her. Bishop discusses her adult life as an actor and time on the show. There were plenty of topics within the book that are considered “controversial”, one of the topics being the author’s choice in being childless and choosing to have an abortion when she ended up pregnant. No I don’t bring this up to be political (although I am pro-choice as I don’t believe someone’s religious beliefs should affect someone else’s medical decisions), but because I know having an abortion can be difficult to discuss because of the strong political and religious beliefs people have behind it and because of how much of a toll it can take on the person. I believe that it is an important conversation to have and to understand people’s choices behind it (not that it is anyones business).