For inspiring me to write, I'd have to say Louis L'Amour. I ate his Westerns up when I was a kid. I wrote my first (Plan 9 From Outer Space-bad) short story at the age of 10, a short Western.
For inspiring and shaping my writing and how I think about writing over the years, I'd say the biggest props go to Wilbur Smith, and more specifically to his novels about the Courtneys in Africa in the 1600ish timeframe.
For authors that have shaped my thoughts about the craft and have given me numerous ideas that I've relied on in my attempts at writing over the past 15 years, I'd add Tolkein, David Drake, Harry Turtledove, Ilona Andrews, and Brandon Sanderson.
Still, the first two authors I'd name would be L'Amour and Smith.
