Okay, I admit there were more than five, in more than five genres, really. I’ve been raised on books by my mom and dad, two engineers sharing a keen sense of humor and the love of a good story told well. I remember when I was a little girl in grammar school, I used to get detective novels as prizes if I did well in math. Yup, it was that bad… I had to work for books! Apparently, my math learning needed serious incentivizing, but the literature part was the gravy.
Many authors have kept me up at night with breathtaking stories, but these five are the ones I owe the most gratitude to, for inspiring me and for mentoring me through the skill of their written word.
- James Patterson. To start with, Patterson’s background encouraged me to start writing when I was thinking that my computer science background, as opposed to an English Lit one, would be a serious detriment to my career as a crime novelist. But he is the #1 best-selling author in the entire world, and comes from advertising, albeit after studying English. That means he really knows how to sell ’em, but he also knows how to write ’em! I love a Patterson novel any time of the day, because once I read the first page, I’m hooked. I can’t put it down, the entertainment dripping from each page and always leaving me wanting more.
- Thomas Harris. No one else has instilled an entire world with such desire to peek into the minds of serial killers. Singlehandedly, Mr. Harris turned the world onto what profilers really do at Quantico, more than twenty years before Criminal Minds had us all talking serial killers. He is also directly responsible for smirks and giggles around dinner tables whenever fava beans are served, and for an unknown number of women called Clarice choosing to use their middle names instead. And that’s what a great author does: creates scenes of such powerful visual energy that are never forgotten, entering our lexicon with meanings forever altered, like landscapes colored by the shades of readers’ memories.
- David Baldacci. His characters are giants among the gazillion characters written in modern fiction. Multifaceted, with depth of feeling and thought, troubled, torn apart by interior drama unfolding at a rapid pace, unrelenting. Take Amos Decker, for example, the lead in the Memory Man series. After reading a few books in that series I feel I know him personally. It’s as if he exists as a physical person, real, with flesh-and-blood problems like the rest of us, a distant friend if I may be so bold, even a close one while I read another Baldacci new release. Hands down, this author has a lot to teach when it comes to character development.
- Melinda Leigh. She is, beyond any shadow of a doubt, the queen of atmospheric settings. Landscapes come alive under her touch, eerie and loaded with mystery, dark, menacing, about to haunt you long after you’ve closed the book and left it behind to deal with life’s hurdles. Possessing a fantastic talent for sharing the images in her mind with her readers, Melinda Leigh inspires visions of the fantasy world she weaves with skilled storytelling, lifelike, unforgettable backdrops with exotic, ominous names. What a treat!
- Stephen King. No other author can spin a blood-chilling yarn like the King of horror. Synonymous with the word thriller, his work has created many references in modern language, unforgettable moments of held breaths and white-knuckled enjoyment, so vividly pouring off the pages as if watching a movie. Then there are his movies, Hollywood always eager to turn his books into films, because Stephen King’s name on the credits is just another way to spell blockbuster. Whether in print or in theaters, a Stephen King story captivates like none other, and that’s something any author should aspire to deliver, myself included.
Leslie Wolfe is a bestselling author whose novels break the mold of traditional thrillers. She creates unforgettable, brilliant, strong women heroes who deliver fast-paced, satisfying suspense, backed up by extensive background research in technology and psychology. Leslie released the first novel, Executive, in October 2011. It was very well received, including inquiries from Hollywood. Since then, Leslie published numerous novels and enjoyed growing success and recognition in the marketplace. Among Leslie’s most notable works, The Watson Girl (2017) was recognized for offering a unique insight into the mind of a serial killer and a rarely seen first-person account of his actions, in a dramatic and intense procedural thriller.
