Author Profile - Terry Pratchett

“Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.”
― Terry Pratchett, Jingo

By now, many of you know that Terry Pratchett is a major influence on my writing.  To take it a step further, he is also my favorite writer.  Right now, Americans are saying "Terry who?".  It can be said that Americans have a difficult time with British humor.  Maybe it's a little dry, I don't know?  I love it!  My television defaults to BBC America, what can I say?

Terry Pratchett writes with some of the most complex sentence structure I've ever read.  At times, I'll have to re-read a sentence just to make sure it said what I thought it said.  It wasn't until I tried out a little experiment which really gave me that moment of clarity.  I read the sentence aloud.  My mind had been trained through the education system to expect sentences to be structured a certain way, but when I read Terry Pratchett aloud, I was surprised.  This is how I speak.  Granted, the Brits use slang which takes some getting used to for an American, but it really struck me as the easiest way to understand him completely.  I took that idea to a Star Wars novel and it was a disaster.  Once my mind was prepared for reading a Terry Pratchett novel, he standing as an author, in my mind, shot right to the top.  It was amazing!

“In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.”
― Terry Pratchett

I started writing Alorya with a bunch of Terry Pratchett novels under my belt, but continued writing as I had been taught.  When I was a fan of John Elway, I emulated him as a quarterback.  I watched Clyde Drexler and immediately went outside to see how high I could glide.  Why not emulate Terry Pratchett as a writer?  In America?!?  Are you crazy?!?  Yes and Yes.  I think he deserves it.  I think anyone who takes a "standard" and turns it on it's head is worth a second look.  If it comes to them as second nature and they're really good at it, then you are watching a genius of your time at work.  It is because humans are so brilliant that we were able to appreciate genius when the genius is still alive, right?

“God does not play dice with the universe; He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who smiles all the time.”
― Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

As you read that passage from Good Omens, your brain is begging and screaming for a period.  When you reach the end of the sentence though, it became a worthwhile journey (if you understand the humor).  When I read it the first time, I had to read it one more time just to make sure.  I did not laugh.  I smiled and said, "Very interesting, Mr. Pratchett."

At times, people would come to me and tell me my sentence structure is a bit weird.  At first glance, they say it's a run-on sentence.  Inside, I smile and say, I know.  I admittedly wrote a run-on sentence in a published book against the wishes of my editors.  Why?  To say 'thank you' to Mr. Pratchett!!!!!

“Five exclamation marks, the sure sign of an insane mind.”
― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

“It's not worth doing something unless someone, somewhere, would much rather you weren't doing it.”
― Terry Pratchett