15 Authors in 15 minutes

The Rules: Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets included) who have always influenced you and will always stick with you. List the first 15 you can recall in no more than 15 minutes, and they don't have to be listed in order of relevance to you.

1. Beverly Cleary

2. Louis L'Amour

3.Robert B Parker

4.Stephen King

5. Peter Straub

6.Joseph Heller

7. Rudyard Kipling

8. Mario Puzo

9. Herman Wouk

10.Robert Jordan

11. Bernard Cornwell

12. Lawrence Block

13. Bruce Catton

14. Neil Gaiman

15. Walter Lord

Honorable Mention: John Sandford, Ed McBain, Robert Crais, Steinbeck, Agatha Christie, Dick Francis, Hemingway, Heinlein (minus his piss poor characterizations of women), the author(s) behind the Three Investigator's series and Landmark's history books, along with the staff of the Britannica Young Person's Encyclopedia, Lawrence Sanders, Michael Connelly and, naturally, myself :)

Note: Other than Cleary (and my last second edit of Agatha Christie) there are no female authors on the list. That isn't intentional, but I've noted the fact on prior lists and it continues to bother me.