Hello and welcome to another Author Influences. Today I’m delighted to welcome Ewa Dodd to Bloomin’ Brilliant Books. Ewa is the author of The Walls Came Down and I will tell you more about her book later. But now, Ewa talks about the books that have influenced her.

Which authors/books did you like to read as a child?
My dad was a bookseller and I read widely as a child, from murder mysteries to classic fairytales, but my absolute favourite books are still David Almond’s Skellig and The Illustrated Mum by Jacqueline Wilson.

Were you good at English at school? Did you like it?
English was my favourite subject at school and the only one that I could confidently say I was good at.

What genres do you like to read? Have they had an impact on the genre you write?
I mainly like to read relatable fiction. My favourite authors are Maggie O’Farrell, Hanya Yanagihara and David Nicholls.

If you were to write a different genre what would it be and why?
Possibly a crime thriller – I’ve had a few ideas in this genre!

Did any author’s work encourage you to pick up your pen and write and if so who, what and why?
I would say Astrid Lindgren. I picked up Pippi Longstocking as a child and wanted to create some wonderful characters like her.

Are there any authors who, as soon as they publish a new book, you have to get it?
Definitely Maggie O’Farrell. There isn’t a single book of hers that I haven’t enjoyed.

Which books have you read that have made you think ’Wow, I wish I had written that’ and what was it about the book?
I think Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life is beautifully written. The characters awakened something in me as a reader, which I didn’t know was there.

Have any of your plots/characters been influenced by real life events/people? (Be careful, I don’t want you getting sued!)
Yes, the main inspiration for The Walls Came Down was an article that I read in a Polish newspaper about a missing child.

Thanks for taking part, Ewa. I like David Nicholls too.

Ewa’s novel The Walls Came Down is out now and can be bought HERE. Here is what it is about:

A young boy goes missing during a workers’ strike in 1980s Communist Poland, unravelling a chain of events which will touch people across decades and continents. Joanna, a young journalist in Warsaw, is still looking for her brother, who’s now been missing for over twenty years. Matt, a high-flying London city financier is struggling with relationship problems and unexplained panic attacks. And in Chicago, Tom, an old man, is slowly dying in a nursing home, losing his battle with cancer. What connects them? As the mystery begins to unravel, the worlds of the three protagonists are turned upside down. But can they find each other before time runs out?

You can read my review of The Walls Came Down HERE.

About Ewa Dodd

Ewa Dodd has been writing since she was young – starting small with short self-illustrated books for children. More recently, she has delved into novel-writing, and is particularly interested in literature based in Poland, where her family are from. The Walls Came Down is her first published novel, for which she was shortlisted for the Virginia Prize for Fiction.

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