WHO OR WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BE A WRITER?

As a young boy, I was a voracious reader. At the tender young age of 12, shortly after graduating from Hardy Boys mysteries, I discovered JRR Tolkien and other SF/Fantasy authors such as Jack L. Chalker and Piers Anthony. But the big breakthrough came when I picked up a paperback called The Shining by a really obscure writer named Stephen King. I devoured the book in one day, and I felt something inside me shift. Until then, I guess I’d always assumed books were products that rolled off some assembly line like cans of corn. When I closed The Shining, however, I finally realized the magic of the written word, and I knew I wanted to be part of that magic.

So, blame Stephen King.