The next author on my list was a personal inspiration for me to pursue writing. As soon as I took a short fiction class with her, my fate to become a creative writing major was sealed. Originally from Tennessee, Wilson made her way north in a twisted version of manifest destiny (a metaphor she used in one of her stories) and became a professor at Oswego State. She has written two collections of short stories, From the Bottom Up; which was the winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for short fiction, and Wind; which was nominated for a Pulitzer prize. Leigh is a great woman with a killer smile and if it wasn't for her I would probably be teaching art at some high school or another, or who knows. I really have no idea where I would be.