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.
