That SpecFic Thing

Thought I'd just share with you guys my answer to a formspring question I received a couple of weeks ago:

If there was one spec-fic work by anyone in the world that you wish you’d written, which would it be and why?

Heh, well I was actually surprised someone would ask me a spekpek related question here. The first thing that came into my mind was Neil Gaiman’s October in the Chair or his poem Instructions. I’d give anything just to write like Neil Gaiman does. His ideas are always brilliant and I love how he manages to make his stories squeaky clean without being too fluffy.

I loved the idea of The Months gathering together to tell stories. Although Neil has used this concept too many times already (that is, the 'storytelling machine'; see The Sandman: World’s End and Parliament of Rooks in The Sandman: Fables and Reflections), I liked the way he personified each of The Months.

As for ‘Instructions’, well, it’s basically everything you need to remember all through your life, whether you’re in a fairy tale or not.

Another would be China Mieville’s Bas-Lag novels. I really like building cities. My first story was heavily influenced by Mieville’s New Crobuzon and Jeff Vandermeer’s Veniss Underground. But I like New Crobuzon more because its dripping with dark stuff and things that you could only encounter in your nightmares.