My Favorite Authors

I am a published author and editor who enjoys the craftsmanship and creations of fellow authors of all sorts. I enjoy music, books, movies - of course - D.I.Y. videos, commercials, games, and Tae bo, to name a few of my fav's. The element that connects all of these various items is the story factor. A story, as we all learned in elementary school, has a beginning, a middle, and a ending typically with great tone and in some cases, well-rounded characters.

For instance, a good video game exemplifies the story narrative as players strive to navigate from one point to another or begin at the start of the game working to its ending. Another great example is a song and how in the really good ones, they convince us who to like or dislike, they warn us, they make us think, they make us dance, they invoke emotion, or they cheer us up, all through means of great story telling, tone, and character development.

A popular suggestion is the "sex fiend" in 'Darling Nikki' from Prince's notorious 1984's track 'Purple Rain'. Prince does an excellent job describing the scene, a hotel lobby, establishing the character, and while she was a fictitious turned real figure, this song embodied the notably character and tone adornments that carried this song even through its sexiest lyrics and mild weak points. Michael Jackson's 1983 track 'Billie Jean' from the 'Thriller' album shows us an unknown character - the devious chanteuses - claims the pop star as the father of her child. It is through strength of competent story telling, unforgettable visuals, and strapping tone - MJ delivers an interesting story turned successful song that even our kids love to sing about still today.

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." -Robert Frost

One of my most favorite and highly repeated movie quotes is from the movie, The Five Heartbeats, "A critic said, 'Donald Matthews will be a great writer one day when he suffers more' ..." This quote - in my opinion - bridges the connection between remarkable story telling and experience. The ability to write what you're feeling and thinking for someone else to fully understand what you're feeling and thinking - now that's a great writer.

In most cases, where there is no imagination well to draw from, its the real life - painful or exciting - experiences that ends up in a love song or a war movie. As with most famous produced works, it is the authors accomplished ability to convey compelling thoughts and pure emotion in the most organic delivery method to reach its varied audience.

Considering the diverse writing techniques writers utilize, these are the authors who have exceptionally impressed me for more than one reason or another.

My Favorite Authors

1. Best Comic book author - Joss Whedon, Ryan Coogler, Stan Lee

2. Best R&B composer - Prince, Ron Isley, Phillip Bailey, Michael Jackson

3. Best gospel composer - Edward Hawkins, Andre' Crouch

4. Best jazz composer - Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong

5. Best adult book author - Nicholas Sparks

6. Best children book author - Theodor Seuss Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss

7. Best screenplay| author - Paul Schrader, Tom Stoppard, Marc Norman, Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen

8. Best poet author - Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman

9. Best Quote author - Barrack Obama

10. Best horror film screenwriter | author - Stephen King, Wes Craven, Bram Stoker

11. Best family animated film screenwriter | author - Michael LeSieur, Tommy Swerdlow, Tim Burton

12. Best Playwright | author - William Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, Euripedes

"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live." -Henry David Thoreau

If you can write all of your favorite authors on separate pieces of paper, place them in a box, shake up the box, and only select one name - would you be happy with that selection?