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In an interview, British fantasy writer, Storm Constantine, cited her authorial influences: "My first inspirations were Greek and Egyptian myths. In my teens I discovered the work of Michael Moorcock and Jack Vance, both of whom were a great inspiration to me. A bit later I found Tanith Lee and Jane Gaskell, and they too inspired me to write. I still read all of these writers, even though Jane Gaskell hasn't produced any new material for a long time. A more recent favourite of mine is Alice Hoffman. She doesn't write genre fiction, but her work has a magical edge to it. I adore the way she writes; she is a superb stylist from whom any writer can learn.

Another early influence was Mary Renault, most well known for writing The Persian Boy, which certainly seemed to have been an inspiration to Oliver Stone when he made the movie Alexander. As a neat but strange synchronicity or full circle, Francisco Bosch, the actor who played Bagoas, the Persian boy, in the film became a friend of mine, and has modelled for the cover of the new German edition of The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit, the first Wraeththu novel. Life produces some weird but magical events sometimes. When I was originally writing poems and stories about Wraeththu, way before I wrote the novels, and was reading The Persian Boy, I'd never have dreamed what would happen all these years down the line."

Shon's comment: I believe Constantine's novella, The Thorn Boy, was also strongly influenced by The Persian Boy. Said Constantine "I do find the idea of beautiful men making love erotic...I just perceive sex as an act of worship. The worship of life. Sex is a mysterious thing, and therefore, to me, magical."

Here is the cover of the new German edition of The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit:

http://www.amazon.de/Wraeththu-Zauber-von-Fleisch-Geist/dp/393892201X/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a/303-5053265-2189818?ie=UTF8