M. E. Eadie

Oh, the list changes all the time. But here's my list: J.K. Rowling (impeccable plots), J.R.R. Tolkien (writes like from another time), Robert Jordan, Edgar Rice Burrows, Alan Burt Akers, Michael Moorcock, Roger Zelazny, George R.R. Martins, Bernard Cornwell, Robert. A. Heinlein, Isacc Asimov. All of them have influenced my writing to a great degree.

Writing and developing an interesting story. Oh, another author I failed to mention was Cornelia Funk. In comparison Funk and Rowling use two different styles. Funk likes the characters to tell her where she should go, Rowling likes to plan things out and then follow the plan. I do both. The idea of creating an idea and drawing it out of the page is almost magical. You are taking the most ethereal of things, ideas, and using the mind to form flesh around them. In essence you are dealing with creation and works that will outlive you. This is highly exciting, and in my opinion the most difficult of art forms. I've danced, I've acted, I've painted, but writing is often the isolated act of creation.