Sea Glass Inheritance, The Sea Glass Inheritance
The 7 Soul-Changing Books That Made Me the Author I Am Today
Aug
Some books you read once and enjoy.
Others you read more than ten times, underlining passages, wearing the pages soft, finding something new every time.
And then there are the rare ones — the soul-changing books.
These are the stories that rewrote my way of seeing the world, changed the way I write, and shaped The Sea Glass Journal in ways I’m still discovering.
I’ve read most of these more than ten times (in one case, closer to thirty). They are my creative DNA — the threads I carry into every chapter I write.
1. The Witching Hour – Anne Rice
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
I’ve been reading this book since my late 20s — easily more than 30 times. I fell in love with the way Anne Rice described New Orleans: the heavy scent of flowers, the feeling of heat pressed against skin, the way the Mayfair house felt alive with history. I could smell, hear, and feel everything on the page.
The women in this book captivated me — richly drawn, varied, strong in completely different ways. Each felt like she carried her own full novel within her.
In The Sea Glass Journal: The Gulf Coast cottage Tess inherits carries the same weight and presence as Rice’s Mayfair house — not haunted in the supernatural sense, but alive with memory, whispering its history through every creak of wood and every object left behind.
2. The Celestine Prophecy – James Redfield
The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield
The first time I read this — in my early 30s — it completely changed my relationship with the natural world. I have never looked at plants and trees the same way since.
The book wove adventure, story, spirituality, and history together so seamlessly that I often wondered: is this part non-fiction? It opened me to the idea that fiction can carry deep truths.
In The Sea Glass Journal: The spirituality of nature runs through my pages — the way sunlight glints off sea glass, how a breeze carries more than just air. Nature in my novel is a companion, a teacher, and a mirror, just as it is here.
3. The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho
This was a book my grandmother and I both loved. The first time I read it, I stayed up all night and finished in a single sitting. It gave me hope — the idea that I could forge a different path than the one life seemed to be handing me.
My last gift from her, before she passed, was a special edition: hardcover, ribbon bookmark, protective sleeve with beautiful artwork. It’s one of my most treasured possessions.
In The Sea Glass Journal: Like Santiago’s journey, Tess’s path is about trusting small signs and moments of wonder to guide her toward a life she didn’t think was possible.
4. Mastering the Art of French Cooking – Julia Child
Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child
Before I ever attempted a recipe, I read this book cover to cover several times, determined to learn everything I could about the craft of cooking.
At the time, I had just moved abroad and didn’t yet know the language. This was the only English-language book I brought with me — my way of immersing in a different culture before I could speak it.
In The Sea Glass Journal: The devotion to craft — whether cooking, crochet, or writing — runs deep. It’s about loving the process enough to study it, savor it, and keep going until it becomes part of you.
5. Outlander – Diana Gabaldon
I loved the way this story gave a modern-day perspective on ancient life — food, medicine, crafts, and daily routines of the 1700s — with an appreciation you wouldn’t get from a purely historical viewpoint.
The love story and adventure were thrilling, but it was the immersive historical detail and the cultural contrasts that stuck with me.
In The Sea Glass Journal: Tess steps between worlds, too — not through standing stones, but through Evelyn’s journal, letters, and recipes, moving between past and present with a growing sense of belonging.
6. The Nightingale – Kristin Hannah
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This novel is the reason I wanted to write a dual-timeline story. The way Kristin Hannah wove the past and present together — leaving subtle hints about which sister survived into old age — kept me turning back to earlier pages, anxious for every clue.
I also loved the sensory details: cooking, handcrafts, the rhythm of daily life during a harsh time.
In The Sea Glass Journal: I wanted my timelines to feel just as intertwined, the past revealing itself through small details, the reader piecing it together alongside Tess.
7. Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
I’ve only read this once, but my love for it grew after seeing the film. The cinematography was like nothing I’ve ever seen — a visual love letter to nature.
One image stayed with me: Kya’s painstaking, handcrafted books, made from scraps instead of a laptop. That scene partly inspired Evelyn’s cloth-embroidered book of memories in The Sea Glass Journal.
In The Sea Glass Journal: Nature is not just a backdrop — it’s a keeper of stories. And sometimes, the most beautiful records are made by hand, with care, to last beyond a lifetime.
Closing Reflection
Each of these books is like a piece of sea glass — tumbled into my life, shaped over time, each leaving a permanent mark on who I am as a person and as an author.
If you’ve read any of them, you already know the magic I believe stories can hold. And if you haven’t, maybe The Sea Glass Journal will be your first soul-changing read.
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About Kristin Omdahl
Kristin Omdahl is a bestselling author, designer, and creative entrepreneur known for her “sensory storytelling” — weaving food, craft, and nature into unforgettable fiction and non-fiction. Her debut novel, The Sea Glass Journal, is a love letter to Florida’s Gulf Coast, exploring themes of healing, connection, and creative legacy.
When she’s not writing, Kristin shares crochet and knitting designs, recipes, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of her creative process with her global community on Patreon.
