As a kid, reading was not my strongsuit. I was too antsy. Found it hard to sit still. When I finally did, I fell in love with Louis L’Amour, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mark Twain, and others. In high school, I stumbled upon a ski-maker from Oregon, or some such place, who had written a book called, This Present Darkness. I think I read it in a day. It made an impression then and still does. Recently, Frank was interviewed in Crosswalk.com and he talked about what he’s currently reading.
Crosswalk.com: What fiction writers do you like right now? Obviously Ted Dekker, right?
Peretti: [Laughing] Sure. I’ve read just about everything Michael Crichton has written. I enjoy his stuff; it’s real cinematic, and it’s inspired. He writes this technical stuff, which most of the time I find fascinating. I like the way he structures his stories, so he’s a big influence on me. Another writer I read is published by Westbow - Charles Martin. He wrote the book The Dead Don’t Dance. I loved that book. It was a beautiful tapestry, or beautiful painting of a character… of where he lived … it was such a wonderful refreshing glimpse into the heart of this character that I just savored every moment of that book. I was ready for that, you know, you get into this thriller genre and action genre, you start shallowing out. It just starts to be same old, same old; you just miss a really good read, a real heart deep. I try to get heart-deep and I think I did when I did Visitation. Right now I’m reading all there is to know about making movies. I want to be a director and a screenwriter, so that’s what I’m studying right now.
Frank, you’re a great encouragement to me. Thank you, a second time.