Several of my FB friends are also authors so, occasionally, things like this will pop up on my feed and, hey, I’m a child of the 90s. I will always take part.
15 fiction writers that have most influenced me:
1. Alvin Schwartz – my first ghost stories
2. Christopher Pike – creepy can be sexy
3. R.L. Stine – and scary can be funny
4. Tamora Pierce – girls can be bad ass & bad can be good
5. L.J. Smith – made me an author
6. Diane Duane – there’s magic in everything
7. David Eddings – what it means to be a hero
8. Stephen King – how to shape horror
9. Neil Gaiman – to think outside the box
10. Jane Austen – you can have a happy ending
11. Ray Bradbury – unlocked universal wisdom
12. J.K. Rowling – anyone from anywhere can change the world
13. Cassandra Clare – unleash the fangirls
14. Holly Black – break the moulds
15. Laini Taylor – break the hearts
I did this more or less chronologically.
There are many brilliant authors missing from this list because, while I love to read their stuff (take Connie Mason and Kim Harrison, for example), it didn’t exactly shape my life. These ones did.