Writers who help me write

So, I read quite a bit, everything from the classics to speculative fiction. I have so many favorite authors, Cormac McCarthy, William Faulkner, George R.R. Martin, Michael Cisco, KJ Bishop, I could go on and on. There are so many brilliant authors in the world, and I love their work. Yet, as many times as I've read The Sound and the Fury, I can't write like Faulkner. His style just doesn't click with me. There are, however, authors who have had a great affect on my writing, they've made me better.Chuck Palahniuk: I've always been a decent enough writer, but I definitely used to come off a little forced, like I was trying really hard to write smart. I was a little stilted. Chuck Palahniuk completely changed my basic approach to writing with Survivor and Invisible Monsters. Palahniuk's style is so raw and unaffected, his use of the present tense adds a wonderful sense of nowness to his writing. When read aloud, both books have a certain rhythm that just sounds natural. I've adopted these techniques and am much better for them.Jeff VanderMeer: I kind of promised Jeff I wouldn't write about him, but I can't skip his impact on me. Jeff’s use of his craft is absolutely amazing. His words form sentences that create life. City of Saints and Madmen is such a masterpiece, I feel like I’ve spent a month in Ambergris, walking its cobblestones, barricading the door to my hostel, praying to avoid the chaos and death that shrouds the Festival of the Freshwater Squid. So few have the skill to write bizarre twisted worlds and make them so real, with such vivid characters. My writing is more alive because of him.Catherynne M. Valente: Cat Valente flat out writes gorgeous prose. She writes darkly eloquent sentences that are often astonishingly chilling. She's truly an artist with language, she paints stunning images with words. Because of her novel, The Labyrinth, the dark things I write are far more beautiful.I owe much of my skill to these three, their writing means a lot to me.Who are your influences?