The event and the author who most impacted my writing

My mom is a person and an event. She and events surrounding her have most impacted my writing. She died of ovarian cancer when she was 32. I was 15. She loved to read and write. She wrote in her journal a lot, but I never knew how much she wanted to write until I read her journal after her death.

One day, many years ago in high school (I'm a lot older than I look (G)), I checked out a book on writing craft. That was when you had to sign a card, and you could see everyone who signed the card who checked out the book before. My mom’s name was signed on that card. This was a high school library book she’d checked out! I kept that card. She wanted to write and publish a novel, but never got that chance. That is the one thing that still pushes me to this day. Lots of people don’t do the things they truly want to do and many never get the chance.

The author who most impacts me to this day is Sandra Brown. I love her books and have read every one of them. Own most of them. I love her stories, her characters, her voice. Then again, she’s been the biggest discourager, because when her new books come out, I don’t get anything done! I aspire to write at least half as well as her one day, but I also fear it’ll never happen. I have a lot of authors and books I read, but Sandra Brown, by far, is my favorite. My writing adage is "What would Sandra Brown do?"