Who are your favorite authors?
Stephen King, Frank Herbert, J. R. R. Tolkien, Richard Matheson, Philip K. Dick, Edgar Allan Poe, George R.R. Martin, Douglas Adams
What are your five favorite books, and why?
Dune - Frank Herbert's masterpiece is my all-time favorite novel. It has often been called science fiction's answer to Tolkien's Middle Earth books and for good reason. I've read the entire Dune series as well as most of Herbert's standalone novels. I was fascinated as a child by his use of journal entries and quotes for chapter heads, as well as the glossary he included in Dune for his numerous invented words. He was a brilliant writer and a huge influence, not so much on my first novel, but much of my writing owes a great debt to Herbert.
The Shining - My favorite Stephen King novel and the greatest ghost story I've ever read. My next novel is going to be a haunted house story and to say that 'The Shining' is an influence is a major understatement.
1984 - George Orwell's dystopian nightmare has proven to be eerily prescient. The ending still haunts me. Unfortunately, what he originally intended as a cautionary tale seems more often these days to be used as a "how-to" manual. One of the stories I'm working on is a Negative Utopian tale in the vein of 1984--I even named the main character George in tribute.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Hands down the funniest book ever written. Douglas Adams was a genius.
The Dark Tower - This Stephen King series was the biggest influence on my first novel. Its blending of horror, fantasy, western, and sci-elements while seamlessly jumping between our world and Mid-World was masterful. My favorite individual books in the series are 'Wizard and Glass' and 'The Gunslinger.'
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