Audrey Lee asked Kat Michels:

Are there certain authors or books that influence your writing style?

Kat Michels Loath as I am to admit it, I was not a big reader when I was younger. I read what was required of me for school or the summer reading program at the library, but no more. Books were often chosen because they contained the correct page count for an assignment, with little regard to their content. In 7th grade, I read The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye because it was so long, I could be done with the semester's reading assignment after one book. I didn't even know what it was about when I opened it and read the first page. Ironically, it was the first book that truly enveloped me in a story and made me fall in love with sweeping historical dramas. Looking back, that is probably where the kernel for historical fiction was planted.

The only other book that truly stands out to me is, A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf. I read it in college and was completely absorbed in the concept of alternate truths, which was sparked specifically by her discussion of Shakespeare's sister. What if she had been the brilliant writer in the family? What if she had tried to pursue that career? Would we have even a tenth of the canon that we do today, had the author been a woman instead of a man? I was fascinated by the 'what ifs.' I already had a love for history, and reading her words opened up a whole new angle of exploration.

My final influence came not from an author of books, but a screenwriter. Years ago, I was reading an interview of Joss Whedon in a magazine and came across a piece of advice that has stuck with me. He said, "Give your audience everything they want, but in the worst possible way." Again, I was fascinated, and even today that is something that I think about when I sit down to write.

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