EIGHT AUTHORS WHO INSPIRED ME TO WRITE

Eiyo Fadneiras,

The Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (KLIBF) 2025 will be held at the end of this month (May 23—June 1). So May is a bookish month for all booklovers in Malaysia. Yay! So, have you guys made your wish list for KLIBF 2025? Hehehe... I'm still sorting it out :P

To celebrate the bookish month, most of my posts for May will be about books. Yay! Let's geek about our favorite books, authors, and characters together. For today's post, I'm going to share a list of eight authors who inspired me to become an author like them. Okay, let's not waste time and carry on with the list...

#1 JANE AUSTEN

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Jane Austen was a famous English author during the Regency era in England. She was born in Hampshire on December 16, 1775, and died on July 18, 1817. Austen was the seventh child out of eight siblings. Her closest companion throughout her life was her elder sister, Cassandra. Neither of them ever married. Austen's lively, affectionate family circle provided a stimulating context for her writing. 

Austen's works vividly depicted English middle-class life during the Regency era. She also creates female leads that are ahead of their time. Austen's famous novels are Sense & Sensibility (1811), Pride & Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814),  Emma (1815), Persuasion (1817), and Northanger Abbey (1817).  All Austen novels are now listed as timeless classics. Syukur alhamdulillah, I've read them all and I'm planning to read them again soon. These novels reflect Jane Austen's enduring legacy.

#2 LOUISA MAY ALCOTT

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Louisa May Alcott was an American author known for her classic novel, Little Women (1868). Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, on November 29, 1832, and died in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 6, 1888. Alcott spent most of her life in Boston and Concord, Massachusetts, where she grew up and received her education with family friends~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodore Parker, and Henry David Thoreau. 

From 1850-1862, Alcott worked as a domestic servant and teacher to support her family. She went to Washington, D.C, during the Civil War to work as a nurse. While working her daytime job, Alcott also wrote poems, short stories, thrillers, and juvenile tales under the pen name Flora Fairfield. In 1862,  Alcott also used the pen name A.M. Barnard, and some of her melodramas were produced on Boston stages. Alcott's Civil War experience story, Hospital Sketches (1863), gave her the confidence to become a writer. The success of Hospital Sketches led Alcott to publish her stories under her real name in Atlantic Monthly and Lady's Companion. In 1865, Alcott traveled to Europe to become an editor for a girl's magazine called Merry's Museum. 

Besides Little Women, some of Alcott's novels are Good Wives (1869), Little Men (1871), Eight Cousins (1875), Jo's Boys (1886), Work (1873), and A Modern Mephistopheles (1877). Some of these novels are now listed as evergreen reads. Louisa May Alcott is famous for creating strong, independent, and adventurous female leads. 

#3 CHARLOTTE BRONTË

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Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist known for her feminist novel, Jane Eyre (1847). Charlotte was born in Thornton, Yorkshire, on April 21, 1816, and died on March 31, 1855, in Haworth, Yorkshire. She was the third child out of six siblings. She was also the elder sister of Emily and Anne Brontë (both of them are legendary authors too). The Brontë family moved to Haworth in 1820 after Charlotte's father, Patrick Brontë, had been awarded a rectorship there.

Charlotte's mother, Maria Branwell Brontë, died after the family moved to Haworth. And so did her two elder sisters, Maria and Elizabeth, leaving Patrick to care for Charlotte, Emily, Anne, and Branwell. Later, Maria's sister, Elizabeth, moved in with the family to take care of Charlotte and her siblings.

Charlotte's famous novel, Jane Eyre, is also known as a strong narrative of a woman in conflict with her natural desires and social condition. The novel is now classified as an evergreen read. Jane Eyre also gave new truthfulness to Victorian fiction. Besides Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë's other novels are Shirley (1849), Villette (1853), and The Professor (1857). All Charlotte Brontë novels are listed as evergreen reads.

#4 L.M. MONTGOMERY

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Lucy Maud Montgomery was a Canadian novelist famous for her novel, Anne of Green Gables (1908). Montgomery was born on November 30, 1874, in Clifton, Prince Edward Island, and died on April 24, 1942, in Toronto. During her early life, Montgomery worked as a journalist and school teacher. 

Anne of Green Gables was Montgomery's most notable work. The novel followed an enthusiastic and highly spirited orphan girl named Anne Shirley, who found a home with elderly siblings in Green Gables. Anne Shirley had become an iconic character in the literary world. Most girls who have read the novel (including me ^_^) see Anne as a good role model. The character is a go-getter and a strong-willed female lead. 

#5 NICHOLAS SPARKS

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Nicholas Sparks is an American novelist and one of the world's most beloved storytellers nowadays. All of his works are listed as New York Times Bestsellers and translated into 50 different languages. Sparks published his first novel, The Notebook, in 1996. The Notebook is now listed as an evergreen romance read and has been adapted into a movie in 2004 starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. Besides the movie, The Notebook has also been adapted into a Broadway musical, featuring music and lyrics by Ingrid Michaelson. The Notebook is one of my all-time favorite reads. It taught me a lot about true and unconditional love. It's a story that always touches my heart.

Besides The Notebook, Sparks' other notable works are Message In A Bottle (1998), A Walk To Remember (1999), The Rescue (2000), A Bend in The Road (2001), Nights In Rodanthe (2002), The Guardian (2003), The Wedding (2003), True Believer (2005), At First Sight (2005), Dear John (2006), The Choice (2007), The Lucky One (2008), The Last Song (2009), Safe Haven (2010), The Best Of Me (2011), The Longest Ride (2013), See Me (2015), Two by Two (2016), Every Breath (2018), The Return (2020), The Wish (2021), Dreamland (2022), and Counting Miracles (2024).

And other than The Notebook, A Walk To Remember, Message In A Bottle, Nights In Rodanthe, Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One, The Choice, The Longest Ride, The Best Of Me, and Safe Haven have been adapted into movies as well. 

Sparks lives in North Carolina and owns a non-profit foundation. The Nicholas Sparks Foundation was founded in 2011. It provides scholarships and funds educational programs for underprivileged and disadvantaged youth. Besides writing, Sparks loves doing charity work.  He is a major contributor to the Creative Writing Program (MFA) at the University of Notre Dame. 

#6 LISA KLEYPAS

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Lisa Kleypas is an American novelist and is known as one of the Queens of Historical Romance fiction. Kleypas is an alumnus of Wellesley College with a political science degree. Before she became an author, Kleypas was named Miss Massachusetts in the 1985 Miss America competition. And she won the Talented Non-Finalist Award during the competition. 

Kleypas now lives with her husband, Gregory, and two children in Washington. Most of her novels are listed as New York Times Bestsellers. 19 of her novels have won the RITA Award. Some of Kleypas's famous works are Stranger In My Arms, Suddenly You, Lady Sophia's Lover, When Strangers Marry, Worth Any Price, Again The Magic, Secrets of A Summer Night, It Happened One Autumn, Devil In Winter, Scandal In Spring, Mine Till Midnight, Seduce Me At Sunrise, Tempt Me At Twilight, Married By Morning, Love In The Afternoon, Cold-Hearted Rake, Marrying Winterborne, Devil In Spring, Hello Stranger, Devil's Daughter, Chasing Cassandra, Devil In Disguise, and many more.

Kleypas is known for her sensual and romantic historical fiction. She is also known as an author of swoon-worthy male leads and strong-willed female leads.

#7 ANJELL

(Image: Maddy M's photography)

Anjell is Malaysia's bestselling romance novelist. Her notable works are  Eksperimen Cinta, Suamiku Paling Sweet, Tundukan Playboy Itu, Hero Seorang Cinderella, Dr. Alpha Male, Dheo's, Dia Tetap Sempurna, King Haidar, Rose's, and Lelaki Astatine. Two of her novels, Tundukan Playboy Itu and Hero Seorang Cinderella, have already been adapted into a TV drama series.

Besides writing, this pretty young author also enjoys spending quality time with her cat. Anjell appreciates her fans a lot. To Anjell, support from fans is her motivation to create swoon-worthy heroes and strong-willed heroines. And I agree with her ^_^

#8 ANA HUANG

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Ana Huang is an Asian-American author. She's also known as the queen of the new adult romance fiction. Her stories include alpha male heroes, strong heroines, and plenty of steam, angst, and swoon sprinkled in. Most of her novels have been sold to over two dozen foreign publishers for translation and featured in outlets such as NPR, Cosmopolitan, Financial Times, and Glamour UK.

Huang's famous works are If We Ever Meet Again, If The Sun Never Sets, If Love Had A Price, If We Were Perfect, Twisted Love, Twisted Games, Twisted Hate, Twisted Lies, King Of Wrath, King Of Pride, King Of Greed, King Of Sloth, King Of Envy, and The Striker.

Huang describes herself as a self-professed travel enthusiast. As a jet setter, Huang loves featuring beautiful places that she has visited in her stories. She's also obsessed with hot chocolate and has multiple relationships with fictional boyfriends.

Okay, so these are the eight authors who inspired me to write. As you can see, most of my all-time favorite authors write in the romance genre. But I'm actually a reader of all genres, except horror. Hehehe :P Besides these eight authors, I'm also into Haruki Murakami, Kazuo Ishiguro, Lang Leav, R.F. Kuang, Lauren Asher, Rebecca Ross, and Adalyn Grace. These authors are amazing as well.

So, who is your all-time favorite author? What do you like about their work?

Okay, this is all for now. Thank you for reading this post. And Happy Bookish Month to my fellow bookworms in Malaysia. Happy Book Haul. And to my fellow authors who participated in KLIBF this year, all the best and have fun ^_^

XoXo,

Fadima Mooneira ^_^

(Authorpreneur, Novelist & Crafter)

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