Steph De Mel asked Jasper Fforde:

Hi Jasper, I love all of your books, especially the NCD and Thursday Next series. Which writers do you like most, and which most inspire your own writing (not necessarily mutually exclusive)?

Jasper Fforde I like this question, because it allows me to use my favourite answer: 'Writers who look at other writers for inspiration are selling themselves short'. I look for inspiration in EVERYTHING (emphasis, not shouting) TV, movies. oral tradition, jokes, sitcoms, plays - even Imaginative play when a child. I mention this because our kids aren't, I feel, getting enough of it. Too many tablets and passive entertainment. When I was a child back in the middle ages, we got bored and then went out and made up a game. Some of them, I recall, were very complex and employed numerous characters, backstories and a plot. Inspiration comes from everywhere, but active imagination should never be dismissed or discounted. I don't do RPG or cosplay, but I can totally understand the appeal!

But in answer to your question: Alfred Bester, Beryl Markham, Jerome K Jerome, Weedon Grossmith, Lewis Carroll, Nicholas Fisk, Ursula LeGuin, Herge, Evelyn Waugh, Kurt Vonnegut.. (the list goes on)

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