"Hunter S. Thompson certainly had a big impact on me becoming a writer. I think that early on, as a teenager, he was primarily a stylistic influence, and later I admired the passion in his voice - the idea that one could use one's writing as a weapon. He was certainly in my thoughts when I founded Beatdom back in 2007, and probably more so in 2008 when I moved to South Korea. His novel, The Rum Diary, is often criticized and I know that it's not the best of his work, but it's absolutely my favourite. The blog I started in Korea was called "The Korean Rum Diary" and became a bit of a cult hit. My voice, or the voice of my persona on the blog, was definitely inspired by his novel.
Later, when I began to write a serious novel about life in Korea, I called the project "The Great Korean Novel" in reference to Thompson's own attempts at "The Rum Diary". Initially his work was quite inspirational in terms of driving the voice of what turned out to be "The Dog Farm", but in later drafts it's harder to see it. Probably there's more Bukowski in there. Thompson is a dangerous influence to have. His voice is too unique, and it's also infectious so it's hard not to copy..."
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