Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen

Johansen_IrisandRoy

The mother-and-son team look back on memorable reading experiences.

 

Iris Johansen: Just a few weeks ago, my son (and frequent collaborator) Roy and I were discussing how much we continue to be influenced by the books we loved when we were children. I remember toting books back and forth from the St. Louis Public Library, stuffing my tattered canvas bag full of mystery, romance, and adventure. One of the first books I remember reading was Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar. I don’t remember the particulars of that story, but I immediately read all of the other Tarzan books. I imagined myself in the jungles of Africa, joining Tarzan and Jane in their tales of lost cities and hidden treasures.

Roy Johansen: My first memorable reading experience was The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery by Jerry West. It was one of over 30 mystery books featuring the Hollister family: five kids ranging in age from four to 12, plus an extremely accommodating mom and dad. They solved mysteries together. I loved those books, but I could never find them in bookstores or libraries. Mom joined a book club that had them delivered to me, two hardcover editions each month. I would devour them in just a few days, so it was a long wait until the next two arrived!

burnett_thesecretgardenAs I grew older, I fell in love with books like The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett and the Black Stallion series by Walter Farley. I think the “Stallion” books are why I’m still such an animal lover today. I was also a fan of Elswyth Thane, who isn’t well-remembered these days. Thane had a beautiful way of weaving romance, history, and paranormal elements into the most wonderful stories. I still get emotional when I think about her book Tryst.

I loved juvenile mysteries such as Robert Arthur’s Three Investigators series and Donald J. Sobol’s Encyclopedia Brown stories, but I was just wild about James B. Garfield’s Follow My Leader, a story of an 11-year-old boy who becomes blind and reconnects with the world through his guide dog. I read that book over and over. When I was 12, I discovered Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories and read them all in a matter of weeks. I re-read them in my twenties and was amazed at how different my perceptions were of Holmes; the character’s arrogance had flown right past me as a child. I discovered a layer of humor I had completely missed, and the stories were suddenly even richer and more entertaining. I’m now reading them again in Leslie Klinger’s amazing new annotated editions.

Those favorite books of my childhood have certainly influenced my writing. Many of my books show my love of adventure, romance, and mystery, with a generous helping of paranormal elements. Animals also play a big part in several of my thrillers. I’ve continued to be an avid reader as an adult, but there’s something very powerful about those books we first encountered as children.

west_happyhollistershauntedhouseThere’s definitely a direct line from those books of my youth to the fiction I’m writing today. Only now do I consciously realize that the The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery, most of the Three Investigators books, and even The Hound of the Baskervilles explore the mystery subgenre of a supposedly supernatural crime being exposed by the forces of logic and reason. My books Beyond Belief and Deadly Visions tread the same ground. And our Kendra Michaels character (featured in the just-released Sight Unseen) certainly shares some traits with Sherlock Holmes, although she is a much more emotional being. We’re all products of our environment, even if that environment was partially created by authors in their wonderful books. We’d be thrilled if we could cast the same spell over readers who enter the worlds we create.

IRIS JOHANSEN is The New York Times bestselling author of Live to See Tomorrow, Silencing Eve, What Doesn't Kill You, Chasing The Night, Fatal Tide, Dead Aim, No One To Trust and more.

ROY JOHANSEN is an Edgar Award winning author and the son of Iris Johansen. He has written many well-received mysteries, including Deadly Visions, Beyond Belief and The Answer Man. Iris and Roy together have written Close Your Eyes, Shadow Zone, Storm Cycle, and Silent Thunder. Their book, Sight Unseen is out July 15, 2014.

This "Writers on Reading" essay was originally published in "At the Scene" eNews July 2014 as a first-look exclusive to our enewsletter subscribers. For more special content available first to our enewsletter subscribers, sign up here.

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