My Favorite Authors and Influences

     It is a safe assumption that most authors have favorite authors. After all, most of us were readers before we became authors.  My list includes J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury, Anne Rice, John Grisham, Isaac Asimov, Taylor Caldwell and many more. I’ve enjoyed many different genres, and, if I have to choose my top three fiction writers, they would be Tolkien, Lewis and Koontz.
     I wrote my one and only fan letter to Dean Koontz over a decade ago when he published a novel that I saw as a landmark change in his style. He is at the top of his craft these days, and with 400 million books in print, you could say that he is successful. He was kind enough to write back and thank me for my letter. 
     These days I do very little reading of any other work because I am very busy writing my own books. I am working on two sequels right now in two different genres to complete trilogies in two categories. In other words, my keyboard and I spend a lot of time together.
     I can’t point to any single influence because different writers have been important to me at different times in my life. Writers, like everyone else, are motivated by different things. My way of writing is unique – to me – because I am an instinctivewriter. As silly as it may sound, writing is as natural to me as breathing. In other words, I don’t think about it – I just do it. The evolution of words on a page is as surprising to me as it will be to the reader later on. In other words, it’s FUN!          There have been many inspirational people in my life – the grandmother who took me in when I was 4 and raised me, the genuine heroes in all generations – past and present – teachers, college professors, priests, pastors, and friends. My characters are based on the heroism and integrity I have seen in many lives. The evil I write about is obvious in our world. A boyhood friend once said, “When you see truth…it burns you! It can’t be denied.” Yes, I write fiction…but the facts behind it are real.


Please note: The sequel to The Revolutionists is coming to the world in early November of this year. It’s called The Reconstructionists. It also solves a HUGE problem…but I won’t give the story away. You’ll just have to read it.