Highly Influential

I was asked an unexpected, and for me, unusual question, given that I'm not published (yet) and don't tend to be on panels at conventions - what were my influences?

I replied with a quick thought (Umberto Eco) and then rather blithely said 'Everything I've ever read'. Which is both true and inaccurate at the same time. Having been thinking about it, I realised that my influences tend to be in theme or flavour rather than style and structure. Consequently, I'm faced with the stark realisation, for a writer, that most of my influences aren't books or authors. Rather it is film and TV. To some extent this could be a worrying sign. Certainly in the past I've seen people write RPGs where their influences and knowledge of the world has been other RPGs. But on the other hand I consider myself more of a storyteller than a writer. Writing just tends to give me more control of proceedings than say live roleplay.

So what are my influences?
In the style and structure category I think I am quite unwittingly married to Ian Rankin's Rebus books, but think I'm starting to break free; I read some JG Ballard recently and that has blown my mind - he's already doing what I want to do and that includes the themes and flavour, but I love the style. No 'he said', 'she exclaimed', the reader is orientated through the dialogue by descriptions of what the person is doing while they say it - this not only adds details but removes the sense of two heads talking to one another separate from the environment. I also think that structure and the use of perspective comes from Neal Stephenson. But this whole area is one of experimentation for me.

In terms of theme and flavour there's a heavy dose of Lovecraft which is sometimes more explicit than others (see The 23rd Nail). But we have to go to things like the myths of Arthur, Robin, Loki, ie English/North Europe/Norse myth to really touch the depths. And here it should be pointed out that Robin of Sherwood and an Arthurian adaptation were both on TV when I was very young. The former especially with its strong pagan feel still echoes with me, and perhaps explains a tendency toward fantasy than SF. But I also watched Shogun as a kid too and this has left an odd sense of Japan in my mytho-conscious. Consequently, the Ring (which could be Lovecraftian too - in the original film there's a lot of hints about Sadako's mother's relationships with sea goblins) and Samurai films have a stong influenc eon me - both nobility, honor and horror. But in the end the Arthurian stuff resurfaces, with knights, Templars, Gnostics and the odd mad magus really being a strong vein. What I really try to get down to is the horror of simply being human.

How evident a lot of this is I have no idea.