Happy International Women’s Day! In case you didn’t know, this is the day when women can celebrate women, what we’ve achieved, what we will achieve and strong beings like ourselves! It’s wonderful. In celebration of this day, we have pulled together a whole host of ladies talking about their most inspirational female authors. Get yourselves comfortable because this could be a long post…

One of my most inspirational authors is Carrie Hope Fletcher, author of All I Know Now and On The Other Side. I have adored Carrie and her work for years. Her work as an actress, singer, song writer, author and feminist has inspired me and will inspire me to no end throughout my life. She’s a very strong young woman and her work as an author has done nothing short of make me inspired by her that little bit more. Her books captivate an audience very easily and she is a natural story teller, this is definitely something i aspire to be as a writer. She’s achieved so much at a young age and is definitely someone to look up to.
One of my more recent female authors that have captivated me is Nicola Yoon, author of Everything Everything and The Sun Is Also A Star. Nicola Yoon has blown up online in the last few years and rightly so. Her books are filled with wonderful stories about diverse characters, it’s hard not to be inspired by her work. I cannot wait to find out what’s in store for her career in the future, she’s taking the book world by storm with her brilliant YA novels.

Sarah – The Little Contemporary Corner – @LeaveByDecember 

I discovered Nina LaCour less than a year ago when Sarah told me to read You Know Me Well before we went to YALC. Since watching her speak at YALC and reading a couple of her books (I’m starting We Are Okay soon, check out LGBTQ+ Book Club for info) I have completely fallen in love with her…and her writing too of course! She writes wonderful books which have such realistic and beautiful characters. I wrote a lot about her representation in my review of Everything Leads to You but just to reiterate again, it’s honestly amazing to be able to see positive, happy portrayals of same sex relationships. I just want to thank her because her books are so adorable and magical and quite seriously helped me with my own sexuality.
Okay, I know JK Rowling is a cliché answer. I know this. However, I HAVE to include her in this post. The Harry Potter series has shaped my life in so many ways and I will always love it. Also, I love describing myself as a Hufflepuff through and through. More importantly, the majority of my closest friends I met because of JK Rowling’s books. When I joined the Harry Potter society at my University, I never expected to meet so many wonderful humans but here I am three and a half years later with a bunch of amazing friends in my life! The fact that it’s all down to our shared love of Harry Potter is so magical and nerdy and I adore it. So JK Rowling must feature on this list because without her I would not have met some of my favourite people. Also she has changed the damn world with her magic. What a Queen of an author.

Sophie – The Little Contemporary Corner – @SophieRachel

Since last year I’ve fallen in love with Victoria Schwab’s writing. I’ve only read three of her books but I NEED others (just no money). I can actually hear her voice as I read her books, and that doesn’t happen a lot with me. The fact that her Twitter account is so real too also inspires me as a writer, and her tweets reminds me that I, too, am human who makes mistakes and panics and is anxious and weird and normal (wait, is that even a possible combination?) and fails at writing and editing at times. She’s also funny, and true and relatable.

Donna – @bramblebooks_

One of my favourite authors is Rachel Caine. I’ve been collecting her Morganville Vampires series for a few years now, and I have a whole shelf of them. I met her at a book signing in Liverpool last year, and she was so lovely! We talked about how she made one of her characters Welsh (his name’s Myrnin), and being Welsh myself, I love that!
As well as Rachel Caine, I realised so many of my favourite books are written by female authors. These include Relativity by Antonia Hayes, The Shadow Hour by Kate Riordan, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey (who I actually interviewed on my blog – that was cool!), Caraval by Stephanie Garber and SO many more! Keep being amazing, female authors!

Charlotte – Wonderfully Bookish – @WBookishBlog

Helen Beatrix Potter, or rather just Beatrix Potter as she’s more commonly referred to, is well known for her illustrated children’s books The Tales of Peter Rabbit.
One of the reasons why she’s one of my inspirational female authors is that her books can take me back in time to my childhood…when I would read a tale out loud to my grandma as she smiled and listened.
I find it so relaxing and peaceful to pick up one of those little white books and just indulge. I can just forget about the rest of the world and enjoy the adventures of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Tom Kitten! The illustrations are a delight just as much as the stories themselves.
It wasn’t until Beatrix was in her late thirties that she published her first book, The Tales of Peter Rabbit. After being rejected by several published she decided to publish it herself! Yes Beatrix! She printed 250 copies and her success hit off from there. It just goes to show no
matter how old you are when you start something, anything is possible whether you’re 35, 50 or 82! Not taking no for an answer and if you’re determined; follow that determination and make it happen. This is why Beatrix Potter is one of my inspirational female authors.

Rebecca – @BeccaEntwistle1

I first read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell in 2013, during my first year of university. It tells the story of two twins who attend the same university together, Cath and Wren, but ultimately have drastically different experiences. Cath struggles with feelings of isolation, feels lonely without her family around and spends long periods of time in her room reading. Basically, I was Cath during my first year. I spent a lot of my first year feeling nervous and anxious, and though I made friends, it wasn’t the huge explosion of new people I expected it to be. I related to Cath so much, and she made me feel like I wasn’t alone. Rainbow Rowell has written so many complicated and interesting women, not just in the two differing sisters of Fangirl.
Continuing the theme of sisters, it was my own sister who first gave me Virginia Woolf’s series of essays A Room of One’s Own. Reading Woolf’s ideas of feminism from such a long time ago was like looking directly into the past. Virginia Woolf’s life was often dominated by her mental illness and it was in writing novels and essays that she encouraged other women to do the same, in a largely male dominated space.
These women are part of a long list of women whose writing I admire and their works have touched and influenced my life in enormous ways, and I am forever grateful that they have.

Sophie – @SophieBNewing

Authors like Enid Blyton and Jacqueline Wilson are part of the reason as to why I have such a passion for reading and writing. I fell in love with their stories at a young age, and not only did they bring me hours of enjoyment but they also gave me a set of strong female role models that I still carry with me.

Shannan – Twenty Something and Day Dreaming – @TSDDBlog

One of my favourite books is Frankenstein, learning to love it after studying it at A-Level. The genre of science-fiction seems stereotypically dominated by men with images of male scientists and male heroes in sci-fi films and books. However, the mother of the science-fiction genre is acknowledged as Mary Shelley as she explores the folly of man with her male protagonist using his masculine superiority to create life without the need of having a female – finally unveiling the drastic and murderous consequences of his lack of nurture towards his creation. Mary Shelley’s fascination with the gothic, unfortunately, stems directly from her own experiences throughout her life.
My favourite story about Mary Shelley is the conception of the idea of Frankenstein, whilst sitting around a log fire with poets and romantics they amused themselves by telling ghost stories. From being put on the spot and unable to think of anything gave her such an anxiety that during that night she experienced night terrors and hallucinations, which gave her the idea for her novel. Shelley found comfort in writing whilst battling against her mental health and finally published Frankenstein anonymously, as women were still shunned in this era as authors. The novel was praised by critics who assumed it was a man who created this science-fiction masterpiece and were astounded to learn that it was, in fact, created by a woman. It’s true that the image of Frankenstein has become the square-headed green monster in Hollywood movies, and I believe the origins of Frankenstein has become lost in modern media and the author, in my opinion, is truly one of the most influential women in writing history.

Bethan – @MuggleTimelord

After careful consideration, I’d say my top favourite female author is Beatrix Potter. Her stories of Peter Rabbit were some of the first stories I ever heard – my family would read them out to me. One of my nicknames is Jemima Puddle-Duck, one of Beatrix Potter’s characters. I have always loved stories, in any form, and one of my dearest memories is when I listened to the stories of Peter Rabbit. Now I read Peter Rabbit to my nieces and nephews. My love for reading and writing stories must have come from somewhere, and I bet it came from my first favourite female author, Beatrix Potter.
On a side note: can I just say that Beatrix Potter was not only a writer, but also an illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist? In fact, from what I read, her watercolour paintings and studies of fungi led to her being widely respected in the field of mycology! Yep, as a nature and animal lover myself, I can say that my respect for Beatrix Potter just grew.

Gemma – Gem’s Curiosity Blog – @Gemscurosity 

It’s been so fun to find out our friends and fellow bloggers thoughts on their most inspirational female authors. I absolutely adore some of the authors mentions and will definitely check out the ones that i’ve not read before. Thank you to everyone that participated and happy International Women’s Day!

 & a whole host of independent women.