Amber’s Top Ten List of Authors, Books, and Quotes

Posted on by Amber Porter

1. Garth Nix, he is my favorite author because of world building. 

The Series he has written (other novels not included):

  • The Old Kingdom which includes five books. This series of his is my particular favorite.
  • The Seventh Tower which includes six books. 
  • The Keys to the Kingdom which includes seven books.
  • Very Clever Baby which includes four books.
  • Troubletwisters which also includes four books. 

There is a very big difference between writing for children and writing for young adults. The first thing I would say is that ‘Young Adult’ does not mean ‘Older Children’, it really does mean young but adult, and the category should be seen as a subset of adult literature, not of children’s books.

Garth Nix

2. H.G. Wells, he is a great author because of the variety, his world-building, adventures, character building, and structure of his books. 

Here are some books I recommend: 

  • The Time Machine 
  • The War of the Worlds 
  • The Island of Dr. Moreau 
  • The Food of the Gods 
  • The Country of the Blind 
  • The Complete Short Stories 
  • Tales of Space and Time 

Nothing leads so straight to futility as literary ambitions without systematic knowledge.

H.G. Wells

3. J.K. Rowling, her character relationships are something to pay attention to, how she carefully and deblierately weaves every character together is astounding. 

Here are some books I recommend: 

  • The Harry Potter series which has seven books 
  • The Pottermore Series which has three books
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay

The thing about fantasy – there are certain things you just don’t do in fantasy.

  J. K. Rowling

4. Stephen King, his suspense is thrilling, King does amazing and unexpected things to keep a reader glued to the story.

Here are some books I recommend: 

  • 11/22/63
  • The Dark Tower Series 
  • Bag of Bones
  • On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
  • The Shining Series

If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.

Stephen King

5. Dean Koontz, he also really good at creating suspense. 

Here are some books I recommend: 

  • Moonlight Bay Series
  • Odd Thomas Series
  • Watchers
  • Intentisty 
  • From the corner of his eye
  • Lightening 

Readers will stay with an author, no matter what the variations in style and genre, as long as they get that sense of story, of character, of empathetic involvement.

Dean Koontz

6. J. R. R. Tolkien, in his writing craft is the craft to write journeys, how to quest your characters into heroes, how to structure your enemies and foes.

Here are some books I recommend: 

  • The Lord of Rings Trilogy 
  • The Hobbit
  • The Fall of Arthur
  • The History of the Middle Earth series 

Fantasy has had some problems with being too repetitive, in my opinion. I try to read what other people are doing – and say, ‘How can I add to this rather than just recycle it? How can I stand on Tolkien’s shoulders rather than stand tied to his kneecaps?

Brandon Sanderson 

7. Anne Rice, has unique characters, pay attention to her character creation. 

Here are some books I recommend:

  • The Vampire Chronicles, 11 books
  • The Mayfair Witches Series, 3 books
  • Black Farm
  • Servant of the Bones

When I write something, every word of it is meant. I can’t say it enough.

Anne Rice

8. Daniel Handler, he sets a great tone and voice of his characters, and even the story. 

Here are some books I recommend:

  • Lemony Snicket
  • Why We Broke Up 
  • The Basic Eight 
  • Adverbs 
  • We Are Pirates

My first novel took almost six years to sell and was rejected 37 times in the interim, and then finally sold for the smallest amount of money my literary agent had ever negotiated for a work of fiction.

Daniel Handler

9. Bram Stoker, how not to do syntax. 

Here some books I recommend:

  • Dracula 
  • Dracula’s Guest, and Other Weird Stories 
  • Bram Stoker’s Dracula: The Graphic Novel 
  • Dracula 2 

There are mysteries which men can only guess at, which age by age they may solve only in part.

Bram Stoker

10. Jane Austen, formal writing, her style and form of fitting a story together is something to pay attention to.  

Here are some books I recommend:

  • Pride and Prejudice 
  • Sense and Sensibility 
  • Emma 
  • Mansfield Park

The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.

Jane Austen

Published by Amber Porter

Amber Porter was born in Fort Carson, Colorado and has recently finished her bachelor’s in Psychology—with a minor in creative writing—from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. She loves writing, particularly: horror, fantasy, young adult, and humor and has a fascination with the darker and stranger side of life, it’s probably why she wanted to be a psychologist—to probe into the deepest most secluded areas of one’s psyche. Amber also enjoys learning about new cultures, particularly their languages, and hopes to one-day return to Italy where she spent several years of her childhood. As a side-note, she’s rather fond of video games—especially those with good characters and story—and getting lots and lots of sleep.