Olli Guernsey asked Ilsa J. Bick:

Did you have an author that inspired you, and what's a book that you really like?

Ilsa J. Bick Hey, there,

Well, I have a lot of "favorite" authors because if I'm reading your book and you're telling a thumpingly good story, then you're my favorite author. If your story's really ORIGINAL, then I want to know how you did it. (China Miéville just did that to me, for example.)

Having said that, I guess I'd pick Stephen King, primarily because even when his books and novellas are only so-so, he still knows how to tell a really good story. His sentences aren't even that fancy-schmancy, although he'll get you every now and again with a real zinger. Of all his works, the one I've come back to most often is SECRET WINDOW, SECRET GARDEN. The ending is weak...King, I think, has trouble with endings...but the first time I read that, I was gobsmacked. I didn't see the twist and NOTHING surprises me. I must've gone back over that story five or six times, teasing it apart, figuring out how he did it and if he played fair. He did...from the very first paragraph, the stinker.

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