Kathleen Brandt

She got to her feet, standing over the puddle of clothing, her erstwhile weapon in hand, and turned to see it. There it was: Joran’s pride and joy, the Baronet’s wild idea, the secret at the top of the tower.

Its control bridge faced her, angled like the prow of a ship but faced entirely in glass, gleaming in the slanting sunlight. Like a ship of the sea, it was keeled, supported in a wooden frame. Once it leapt from that nest, there would be no landing for it without another.

Overhead, Killian was alarmed to see that they were already inflating the many-celled nautiloid, a series of chambers made of reinforced silk, specially treated with one of Joran’s impressive electrified compounds to hold gas better than the aircells of any aeroship ever crafted. The whole structure, the size of a small building, creaked and strained at its control ropes, longing for the sky.

Killian understood its feelings.

As a primarily fantasy writer, that's primarily also what I read. These are my top three favorite authors. Below them, you might find some other works that have influenced me or that I feel ought to be in the bookshelf of an aspiring author. The top three are in no particular order; there is no precedence between them.

Peter S. Beagle
You probably know him from The Last Unicorn, his most well known work. But whenever you can, get your hands on anything of his that you can find; it's well worth the investment. His ability to let us see through the eyes of his characters is precise, delicate and perfect. His descriptions are quirky and unusual, yet frequently bring tears to the eye.

Connie Willis
A wonderful Colorado author, she shows a charming disregard for genre lines and a stunning ability to have everything somehow make sense by the end. Her characterization, worldbuilding and dialogue are fantastic.

Lois McMaster Bujold
Many dismiss Bujold as a writer of space opera. She is now turning her hand also to fantasy romance. These two subgenres are two of the most undervalued in the entire undervalued speculative fiction genre. Then how come she's one of the most decorated authors in the business? Because once you begin reading her work, you will find a mirror's worth of depth, going on quite as far as forever. Her characterization and worldbuilding are unsurpassed, and she has the knack of making the reader laugh and then go, "Hey...." She can offer unexpected wisdom with a single turn of phrase, offhand in the midst of the action.

Germs, Guns and Steel - Jared Diamond
This book should be required reading for any fiction writer, especially those engaged in building their own worlds. It should also be on your list if you're interested in anthropology, cultural history, religion, racism, the past, the future, or any aspect of human possibility. Oh, just read it already!

Maps of Time, an Introduction to Big History - David Christian
Combining beautifully with the above, this is another worldbuilding classic. An entirely new way of looking at the way stars, planets and humans find their way to their current state.

The Encyclopedia of Fantasy - John Clute and John Grant
More than just a who's who of fantasy literature and cinema, this book gives a lot of insight into the whole world of the genre, including terminology and concepts you really need if you're going to write it well.

On Writing - Stephen King
In some ways, I wouldn't want to write like Stephen King; certainly I don't share the grim worldview shown in the majority of his works. However, I admire his ability to grip the reader, juggle multiple characters, time frames and viewpoints, and tell a story that kicks butt. And in a lot of ways, this is a great book on how to write. If nothing else, it's vastly different from most how-to-write books.

Bird by Bird - Anne Lamott
Subtitled 'Some Instructions on Writing and Life', this is a fantastic book. It won't tell you how to format your manuscript for publication, but it should be required reading for anyone who wants to be published. It offers a gentle, wry, sometimes bizarre series of metaphors and deeply personal stories about being a writer, reasons to write, and the real deal about publication and what it will do for you. Highly recommended.