A few of my favorite authors

I can’t begin to list every writer who impress me enough to read and reread, but without much thought at all, I can list the ones that come to mind immediately. I’ve included an Amazon link to some of their works in hopes that, if you haven’t read them recently, you’ll read them now. I’m betting your writing will improve as a result.

Edgar Allen Poe: The first time I read The Cask of Amontillado I didn’t know what a cask was yet alone amontillado but the story scared the daylights out of me, literally. In a half-darkened room, I attended that carnival, listened to the conversation, followed Fortunato’s footsteps as he descended to his eventual imprisonment behind his enemy’s wall, and vowed never to drink amontillado.

Maya Angelou: The title of Angelou’s 1969 work, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, captivated me enough to buy the book. My trouble basic college psychology courses left me wondering what this science was all about. Angelou taught me what the professors couldn’t -- how much a child’s experiences infect and affect his or her growth.

Agatha Christie: I have to admit, I never solved any of Christie’s mysteries on my own. Time and again, I studied the clues, thought along the same patterns as her protagonists, then made a decision only to be proven wrong. One day I plan to read her works again, not to try to figure out whodunit but to see how shedunit.

John Steinbeck: I admit I sometimes lean a little bit toward the left politically but I blame Steinbeck for that. I was curious as to why The Grapes of Wrath was banned; knowing it was banned, I had to read it. And when I did, I developed a distaste for the tactics of big business who seemed to be have too much control over people. Beyond that, however, I fell in love with the downtrodden Joad family because despite having the odds stacked against them, they were strong and full of hope, especially the women.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings: I’ve been known to cry during sentimental or downright sad movie scenes but I think the only book that actually made me cry was The Yearling. If an author can do that, she belongs among the others in this list but Rawlings does more. She has the ability to create such lifelike characters that we just know they exist in real life.

Are there any of your favorite writers here? No? Then who do (or did) you love to read?