The first books I ever remember reading were the Oz books. I've always been a voracious reader. Major influences? Margaret Campbell Barnes, Norah Lofts, Carolyn Keene, Diana Gabaldon, Mary Stewart, Victoria Holt, Marcia Moore, Jess Stearn, Agatha Christie, Dorothy Sayers, Ellis Peters, Edward Marston, Sharan Newman. I've been a hopeless medievalist for most of my life, always interested in the strange and magical. My interests in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance involve metaphysics, history, culture, and music.