Who inspired you?

Quite often, at various writing events that I have attended, someone will ask me what inspires or inspired me to write.  My answer is always the same: my parents.

I know that plenty of other writers may find this answer kind of corny, but it's the truth.  I was always somewhat eccentric when I was a kid, if you call having a lot of very varied interests "eccentric."  I read everything that I could get my hands on, built models (usually of the Universal monsters, animals, or scientific subjects), studied most of the sciences (I even had a lab in my parent's basement), practiced boxing and the martial arts, played baseball, I also kept a menagerie in my home that consisted of all sorts of reptiles, amphibians, and birds. And I still found the time and the wherewithal to write.

Throughout all this, my parents always encouraged me and never put me or my ideas down.  When the encyclopedia salesman came to our door, even though money was scarce, they bought me the entire set. I read the whole thing, including the bonus dictionary, that summer.  My father built me a huge terrarium out of 2X4's and Plexiglas to house my burgeoning collection of reptiles. And when some neighborhood kids brought a sick seagull to my house in the hopes that I could nurse it back to health (which I did), my mother didn't say no.

And so it was that through all of the problems regular folks go through like bills, health concerns, etc., my parents still found the strength and patience to encourage me, and thus to inspire me.  I learned more from observing my parent's strength, positivity, support for their kids, hard work ethic, and love, than I ever learned from any books.  I was inspired to be patient, loving, strong, and hard-working. These things in turn inspired me to write, and it's no coincidence that my first published work was titled, "My Mother: Superstar!"  My father and I used to visit used bookstores where I'd buy books and comics, and this inspired me to write a guest column for D.C. comics where I extolled the benefits of reading comicbooks.

So, it was my parents and their truly unconditional love that inspired me most to put pen to paper and share parts of my life with the world.  My mom passed away a few years ago, and took a huge part of my heart with her. I will always miss and treasure her.  My father is still here, and we try to make it to his favorite restaurant, IHOP, about once a month.  His resilience at having lost his best friend is another source of inspiration to me.

Thanks mom. Thanks pop. For inspiring me to live. Love. Write.

So fellow writers, who or what inspired you to write?