AUTHORS WHO HAVE IMPACTED/INFLUENCED ME

February, 2026

Written by Willa R. Finnegan

TOPIC ON THE TABLE: AUTHORS WHO HAVE IMPACTED/INFLUENCED ME

For my blog post this month, I asked my followers on TikTok what they would like me to write about…and I chose the topic listed above!

Before I get into my blog for February, I should probably

introduce myself in case you don’t know who I am. My name is Willa R. Finnegan, and I am the fourteen-year-old, award-winning author of Snow: Cursed. I wrote my debut novel when I was eleven, published the book when I was twelve, and it was in paperback form for my thirteenth birthday. But that’s enough about me. Let’s discuss the authors who have influenced me as a writer!

There are so many authors out there who have impacted the way I think about things, and even the way I write. I can’t name them all for sure, but I’m going to go over the top three writers in this blog post who have had a major influence on me in my fourteen years.

The first one that I want to talk about is Markus Zusak, who penned the Book Thief. If there’s one thing you know about me, it’s that I absolutely CANNOT shut up about this book. The writing was so lyrical, so beautiful, and made me want to keep reading late into the night. The structure of the story and the fact that Death was the narrator truly impacted me as a human being. And maybe most importantly of all…the characters. What can I say? I’m speechless.

There are many reasons that Markus Zusak influenced me with this book. The way I think of the Holocaust will forever be changed by the events in the Book Thief. I also think the way I approach certain situations and topics will also always be different. My brain chemistry was definitely altered by this novel. Additionally, I think my writing has become more lyrical because of him, and I think there's been a significant change in my prose from pre-Book Thief era to post-Book Thief era. Also, the connections that I had to the characters is definitely something that I’ve been trying to similarly build in the sequel to SNOW: CURSED and even my super-top-secret-project.

Onto the next author…Soman Chainani—the author of the School for Good and Evil. This book lives rent-free in my head, and was so ridiculously good. I completely devoured the rest of the series, and ate up his words and prose. I think the main thing that I enjoyed with his work is the humor of it, sort of, which I kind of think influenced me as I was writing SNOW: CURSED. I really wanted to encapsulate the happy part of life instead of just the sorrow-filled portion. Also, the whimsy in his books is something that needs to be mentioned. I vividly remember that I felt so content and jovial when reading his work, and I think it’s because of the lightheartedness of it. Despite the fact that the themes were a little heavy at some points, it was infused with such magic that it felt very balanced out.

Lastly…Suzanne Collins. Her characters, her ideas, her prose—everything she has created in the Hunger Games series has forever warped me in the best way possible. There are so many ways that she has influenced me. The way she writes rebellion and the pain of resistance is just so powerful in more ways than I can ever describe. Sunrise on the Reaping utterly destroyed me and tore me apart. In my humble opinion, her works are inarguably some of the best works I have ever read. Katniss is one of the few characters that I’ve felt deeply connected to, that I’ve rooted for throughout everything. Suzanne Collins writes the rawness of people so well, and truly captures the essence of humanity in her pages. I could probably go on about her forever, but I realize that I should probably be wrapping this up now, LOL.

I hope you really enjoyed this blog post today. I’ll see you again at the end of March. Please spread the word about SNOW: CURSED, and about my blogs. Also, subscribe to my mailing list if you would like to receive my monthly newsletter. Have a great month everyone!