What books or authors have influenced your writing?

I’d probably have to look to Nathaniel Hawthorne, Edgar Allen Poe, Jules Verne, Joseph Conrad and Mary Shelley as having had some impact on my writing style. They’re very detail-oriented and complex in their writing style. Most readers would agree that my books are both descriptive and complex. I’d like to think that Agatha Christie also influenced my writing. She was the first mystery writer that I read and then Poe, so I think they got me on the path to writing mystery novels.

If you look at The House of the Seven Gables, Frankenstein, and Heart of Darkness, I think you’d find a common thread of being rather dark and deep. They are difficult reads, no doubt about that. I guess that’s why they’re called the classics now, but they have a mastery of depth in the characters and plot. There’s this inner conflict in the main characters and the settings help bring it all to life and give it more significance and meaning. If you look at my writing, I’ve been told that my style is very similar to that of the authors I just mentioned. I do develop the characters extensively as well as the setting and often times one or more of the characters have an intense inner conflict. But I don’t think it take it as far as the literary greats. My stories aren’t all about the inner conflict and don’t center on that. I try to craft an engaging story and bring the characters to life in many ways.

I don’t know. I’ve never read any of my own works, but in thinking about the characters and the plot I can see that there are some parallels. Maybe I’m in the same league as Hawthorne, Shelley, Poe, Conrad, or Christie. That’s not for me to say. History will be the judge of that. I just love writing and creating good stories and interesting characters.