I'd say my favorite authors. Not necessarily as who they were but because of what they could create. I couldn't picture things in my head when someone described something for years. I couldn't just image something new on my own. I was fascinated by the stories they could weave and world building accomplished by them. It was like a puzzle I needed to solve to understand and in time fell in love with most genres of literature.
When I was overwhelmed I would retreat into my books and go on fantastical adventures that made all the noise and hurt just disappear. Even during class, when it would become to much, I'd pick up my book ( I always had one in my bag wherever I went). I got away with this in school because I made straight A's and always turned my assignments in on time. So the teachers just let me be and mostly the other students did too.
So to name a few of my literary heroes: Jules Verne, Wilkie Collins, Harlan Ellison, Conan Doyle, Oda Eiichiro, Henry James (yes, I love Henry James and I don't care who makes fun of me for it ), Ranpo Edogawa, Jane Austen, Alexandre Dumas, Franz Kafka...
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In my darkest hour I reached for a hand and found a paw.
"I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief."