I began as a voracious reader with early favorite authors like Jules Verne, HG Wells, E and Rice Burroughs. In my early teens I heard a live reading of Allan Ginsberg's "Howl" that changed my life. I dove into the deep end of the Beat pool with Jack Kerouac, Mike McClure, and William S Burroughs. Jim Morrison fueled my interest in writing while Ray Manzarek fed me tasty keyboard parts at the beginning of my musical career. A  visit to City Lights in San Francisco introduced me to Lawrence Ferlinghetti and a whole new world opened up to me as a writer. I attended writing seminars given by Ferlinghetti, Denise Levertov, and Ken Kesey who provided the inspiration, mentoring, and encouragement for me to keep developing and honing my writing skills.  

I don't go in for this sort of thing.