As far as background..I have no formal training on how to write.  All I know is that I know what I like.  I know what I see in my mind's eye and I know how to put that on paper in a way that pleases me. I love words, the unusual and underused as well as the everyday...I'm equal opportunity when it comes to turning a phrase. I play Scrabble, and sometimes even win! The V.C. Andrew Flowers In The Attic series, broke my heart and helped build my base of love for books at a young (probably too young!) age.  But I think the Laura Ingles Wilder Little House on the Prairie Series was even before that. I love to read, I've read everything that Stephen King has written.  And by read, I mean over and over, each book mulitple times and he is by far my favorite author, living or dead.  I have also read Jodi Picoult and enjoyed her work very much.  Grisham is always a good intense read as well.  I have read a few by Brian Lumley as well as Nicholas Sparks.  And more than a few by Danielle Steele.  I'm an all around reader, if it's good and I can enjoy the prose...then I can read it.