I listed a couple different influences I'd had and last night--for some unknown reason--I was thinking about how they'd actually influenced me.

(1)J.K. Rowling is pretty obvious. She can write the hell out of a series and somehow tie them all in together in ways even the best reader CAN'T guess.

(2)John Green writing has this authentic real quality. He has this way of being able to tap into the human spirit. You read his books and you just feel like he gets you. His characters are easy to relate to and feel so alive on the page.

(3)Beth Revis' Across the Universe series really sparked my imagination. I love love love space. She did something I'd never seen before in a book, a chapter-by-chapter rotating first POV between the two main characters. I think that is a fantastic literary tool. You get so much more of, well, EVERYTHING.

(4)D.H. Lawrence is amazing. He was banned because his writing was thought to be pornographic but it's actually just truthful. He tabs into human sexuality in a way that is so honest you feel like you're learning about yourself through his characters.

(5)H.G. Wells, yes he is old school, BUT, whenever I read anything by him, I'm always thinking "this is possible, this could really happen", even though known of the things that have happened in his book HAVE ever happened in real life but you still feel like it's 100% probable.

And that ladies and gents, wraps up my influences. Care to share yours?