BoM/TWS Message Forum

I'm actually similar. I don't, and never really did, read a lot of prose fiction. In high school I tried reading the Hobbit and some of Lord of the Rings but I couldn't get into them and in general I don't really like fantasy as a genre or setting. Most of the books I read then and read now are non-fiction history books.

The books I did read were largely as a kid and were ones like the Ramona and Fudge books in elementary school which probably plays a large influence on the types of stories I like (low key, lower stakes, down to earth slice of life). Comic books have always had a big influence on me and I'd say my biggest with that stuff is what Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis did on Justice League with the focus more on humourous situations provided by the cast's quirks and interactions vs. big world saving superhero plots.

I also read a lot of manga and that's what's grown to really influence me over the last few years. Three authors especially are hands down my absolute biggest influences: Ojiro Makoto, Adachi Mitsuru and Yokota Takuma. Ojiro's stories have a very calm, relaxed and fairly drama free atmosphere with a coming of age focus, Adachi's are simultaneously quietly calm and intensely emotional and I enjoy Yokota's sense of humor and well developed and realized casts.

Music in general is also a huge influence on me though largely in regards to setting a mood or a tone for me or to get me in a certain state of mind. That and references.