For me, it would have to be Outlander by Diana Gabaldon, although Parallel Attraction by Deidre Knight runs a close second for sheer orginality and one scorching hot, angsty alpha hero. I also wish I could write something as LOL funny as Mary Janice Davidson's Undead and Unwed.
What about everyone else?
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Liane Gentry Skye
www.lianegentryskye.com
50,482 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2007 - 08 47
Definitely "Outlander" by Diana Gabaldon. A funny thing. I wrote a blog about it that another author was living my life and it felt like the books she was writing should be what I was doing. It was spurred by a review I did for Mystery Scene magazine of The Day Will Come by Judy Clemens.
http://wordsogold.blogspot.com/2007/06/deja-vu-or-freaky-friday.html
Dawn
63,056 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2007 - 12 09
Hi Dawn, I did check out your post on your blog. It was very well done!
11,083 / 50,000
Nov 5, 2007 - 23 56
I had to go stare at my wonderful small collection (it's under 50 I think) and had to think looking at the titles. It was a little hard choosing cause I love so many of the books I have on my shelves.
1)Winter Born by Sherrilyn Kenyon wins by a LONG shot. I have read the story at least 20 times cause damn I wish I was that good at writing a short story.
2)Dark Magic by Christine Feehan ~ still by far my favorite book (had to buy a new copy cause my old one fell apart), got no idea why but it just something about it I just love to pieces even if there are some that hate it for the fact Gregori practically rapes Savannah in the first part, but yeah there's a good reason behind that (at least to me)
In the top ten....Shadow Game, Kiss of Midnight, Night Embrace, Night Play, Dark Legend, Dark Possession, Unleash the Night, and Dance with the Devil. Where these are I got no idea cause there are scenes in each of these I wish I could have written.
9,141 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2007 - 00 49
I wish I could have written Mirror Dance by Bujold. I wish I was Bujold. I wish I had MIles and Aral and Mark and Cordelia walking around up in my head.
30,000 / 50,000
Nov 6, 2007 - 22 24
I wish I could have written "Dance" or "Bliss" by Judy Cuevas. LOVE those books.
21,345 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2007 - 06 39
As for romance I wish I could have written "A walk to remember" by Nicolas Sparks.
Because the idea and the basic plot (and the movie) are so tremendous but what he made out of it is ... a tiny little thing with no more then the idea of what atmosphere there could have been and small enough for 13-years-old to read ...
50,798 / 50,000
Nov 7, 2007 - 10 03
Either Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase or Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie. Both are really character driven books, beautifully written, and they manage to do something so totally original and refreshing within their respective subgenres. Phin from Temptation is the sexiest, most fully drawn MMC I've ever read and Jessica from Scoundrels is by far my favorite romance heroine.
10,708 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2007 - 07 14
A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Devereaux. I cried for a half hour after finishing that one.
MelanieT
50,132 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2007 - 14 21
MelanieT
i was going to mention that one and her Velvet Series, heck the Black Lyon one too!
The Secret Passion of Simon Blackwell by Samantha James.
Tara Road by Maeve Binchy.
Ok that was more than one, sorry!
10,530 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2007 - 16 20
I wish I could have written the Dark-Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. I love her heroes and her creativity.
Also A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle, because that book stayed with me from the time I read it. It's still wonderful today.
Tambra Kendall
50,563 / 50,000
Nov 8, 2007 - 20 55
Allow me to buck convention and say this: I wish I had written Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita." Not only is it beautifully written (it reads almost as much like poetry as it does prose), but it is also a tragic story of destructive and obsessive love. Certainly not a romance in the conventional sense, but still ... if I could write any book ever published, that is the one I would choose.
10,530 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 07 52
I love everything by Sherrilyn Kenyon! So yep, I wish I could have written many of the scenes she has.
Hugs,
Tambra
52,535 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 11 16
My sister and I wish we had been the Bronte Sisters. She wishes she wrote Jane Eyre. I wish I had written Withering hights. We both agree anything by Jane Austin would be worthy of claiming as well.
45,682 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 20 18
Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice
I LOVE her descriptions, and her originality. And, c'mon, how can you not love Lestat?
6,208 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 20 31
The Windflower by Laura London (Tom and Sharon Curtis, actually)
The best romance I've ever read. Even after 20 years, Devon, Merry, Cat and Raven still make me cry, laugh and long to be a part of their world. I've never read anything that compares to what the characters in this story make me feel. I love it, I love it. A must-read for any romance writer. Linky: http://www.amazon.com/Windflower-Large-Print-Laura-London/dp/0739437704/...
or
Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale
Definitely a story you'll have to read more than once in order to fully realize its impact. Not your typical historical romance; she's a Quaker and he's a womanizing Earl who's a mathematical genius. After he suffers a kind of stroke that robs him of his capability to communicate, everyone believes he's gone insane. Except for the heroine...and us, the readers. An incomparable, gut-wrenching read that leaves me in awe each time I read it. Linky: http://itgreyhound1.livejournal.com/50546.html#cutid1
I'm off to check out some of the other books recommended...er, um...not until December, anyway.
~Andi
Can't believe I'm doing this
1,435 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 22 27
At this moment I have a minor obsession with The Outsiders. S. E. Hinton was only sixteen when she wrote this and as a young writer I wish I had her dedication and plus I love the homoerotic undertones of the book. It is something I have never been able to accomplish with my own writing without being too blatant. I believe it takes great maturity to write something with such undertones or great innocence. At eighteen I have neither.
However, if it comes to novels that I will still be envious of thirty years for now; that would have to be Orlando: A Biography. The first time I read this novel I was in awe. I cannot even pin point what it is about that novel that makes me adore it, but I just do.
52,535 / 50,000
Nov 9, 2007 - 22 32
However, if it comes to novels that I will still be envious of thirty years for now; that would have to be Orlando: A Biography. The first time I read this novel I was in awe. I cannot even pin point what it is about that novel that makes me adore it, but I just do.
OMG I completely agree. I read the outsiders when I was fourteen. I wanted to be the next S.E. Hinton. I loved Dallas and Johnny. The whole thing to me was amazing. I haven't read it in years and after watching the movie, I have no desire to. But, there will always be something about that book that stays with me. I no longer wish I wrote it but I do wish I had done more with my writing before now.
Kelien
50,494 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2007 - 22 57
Hum....I'd have to say any of the Malory series by Johanna Lindsey. I love the comedy in them and "fighting" between the brothers. She always make me laugh.
Dee
50,053 / 50,000
Nov 10, 2007 - 23 27
I wish I could have written Harry Potter (haha).
In all seriousness, I wish I could have written Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, which is so heartfelt and profound. Really, any one of those classic romances upon which we all base the standards for our love lives would have been wonderful to write (I know I compare all men to Mr. Darcy).
61,575 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 02 04
I wish I had written Almost Heaven by Judth Mcnaught. I could read that book over and over.
Unrequitted love and emotional disasters seem to be my specialty read.
Jazz
57,656 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 17 55
I'm with you on the Harry Potter. If we're gonna wish, wish big. (gotta go for the money on that one!)
50,132 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 19 44
Ah yes, right on, well then I'd love to have written Lord of The Rings and still been around to reap all the rewards and of course consult with Peter Jackson on the movies and personally tutor Orlando Bloom, Viggo Mortenson and Sean Bean on the vision of my work LOL!
50,239 / 50,000
Nov 11, 2007 - 22 07
I am *so* with you there!! I adore that world and those people ... I escape into the place and even start to think it's real. I remember when I first read them looking up and tutting at my husband about 'those Cetagandans' and expected him to understand what I meant as if it were real.
50,116 / 50,000
Nov 15, 2007 - 20 11
Oh my, definately Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. It is seriously ME falling in love with a red headed vampire! I love red heads and I looove vampires! Why couldn't I write that? Come ON!
108,028 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2007 - 01 47
The Thornbirds
58,963 / 50,000
Nov 17, 2007 - 11 47
I hear that! Being richer than the head of my country would totally be a plus for me. Though I must say that I'd love to have written Outlander. Or just to be Diana Gabaldon. Because she rocks, and so does Jamie Fraser! *hugs Jamie teddy bear*
2005: NanoHell (failed)
2006: the Gravity of Love (won)
2007: Oblivion (in progress)
# of sleepless nights: 2
# of cans of caffeine: 9
Sanity level: low
58,250 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2007 - 20 47
I LOVE her descriptions, and her originality. And, c'mon, how can you not love Lestat?
Just visiting, can't say i have just one I wish I could have written, but the vampire caught my eyes. I am so not feeling creative. I have to agree. How can you not love Lestal?
True but I have found some yummy vampires to add to the list.
Jean Claude
Kisten
Quin
Stefan
17,588 / 50,000
Nov 22, 2007 - 22 34
I am wishing I had wrote And then he kissed her by Laura Lee Guhrke oh heck most of the things she writes have inspired me to write on!
I agree with Twlight I would have loved to write it as well!
A recent one would have to be C.L. WIlson's Lord of the Fading Lands! Man I love that book!
Sarai
http://www.saraij.blogspot.com
52,321 / 50,000
Nov 23, 2007 - 15 26
I' d have to say Pride and Predjudice by Jane Austen or Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan.
57,753 / 50,000
Nov 24, 2007 - 19 22
OMG, awesome book. I couldn't put it down.
For me, I'm thinking Tempt Me Tonight by Toni Blake. It's got some crazy sex scenes, but the book is so unbelieveably sweet, I've read it twice so far. Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie I've read 3 times and I would have loved to have written that. It's got humor and sweetness and Krispy Kreme donuts. =)
Oh wait, you said one book...I can't choose just one.
I agree with A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, that one is good, but then all his books are good. I really liked True Believer. Oh, one last book I wish I could have written was Into Thin Air by Cindy Miles.
I could go on...
2005 NaNo - Winner! Untitled & Unfinished
2006 NaNo - Winner! Untitled & Unfinished
2007 NaNo - Winner! Working Title - Second Chances