Just finishing a piece for Analog's blog, & I say this not to put myself down, but whenever I write about SF influences, I always come away wondering why on Earth I'm not a better writer myself. It's not for want of good role models!

I suspect I'm like the protagonist of Adele Wiseman's under-read Canadian classic, Crackpot: a person who tumbles out of a tough childhood into a life of "taking up space" with words as much as body. My work sprawls as if I'm trying to ground myself via word count.