I had a quick thought about this last night before bed. Which writers made me want to write, both back when I was young and now that I’m actually a writer? Through their books, they’ve energized my passion for writing. They’ve shown me that books can have such an impact on a person, and I want to be in that fellowship. This list is, by definition, incomplete, but they represent some of the works that most touched me.

• Isaac Asimov (The Foundation Trilogy)
• Albert Camus (The Fall)
• Paul Bowles (The Sheltering Sky)
• Natsuo Kirino (Out)
• Kenzo Kitikata (Winter Sleep)
• John Steinbeck (The Grapes of Wrath)
• Mikhail Bulgakov (The Master and Margarita)
• Max Barry (Company)
• Marie Phillips (Gods Behaving Badly)