I read extensively in American classical literature and was strongly influenced by John Steinbeck's works of which I have read everything he wrote until his death.   I was most influenced by his more humorous works, Cannery Row, Sweet Thursday and Tortilla Flats.  I read everything Ernest Hemingway wrote and was fond of the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Truman Capote and the novel "Them" by Joyce Carol Oates, though I have not found anything else of interest in her works.  I was influenced by the works of Dostevsky and have a great desire to write and while writing a novel based on one of my travels I got writer´s block and w my self'published novel, ¨An Evening´s Fine Dining¨, intended to be a humorous work on a single night at a private club hotel on the beach of south Florida, pour out of me in morning writing sessions.  I love to write.  I have read that some authors hate the process but do it for its rewards, I am not one of them.  I find writing a passion and a joy of self'expression.  I studied English at the University of South Florida in Sarasota, Florida and have read hundeds of novels by choice.  I believe having read so much classical American literature influenced my writing style and helped me write well.  In my youth I was raised by both my mother and grandmother, both teachers.  My mother taught us compassion and understanding for people.  My grandmother earned a master´s aquivalency degree from Harvard in mathematics. She taught us an appreciation for the arts, a love for music, literature, painting and drawing.  She also gave me the ambition to write.  I am deeply indebted to both of them.  I hope my readers find pleasure in reading what I write.