No question about it, there is no writer I like better, but I read a LOT, and all over the place. What I found is that it's his style that grabs me--conversational, slightly earnest, earthy, with realistic characters. It's writers like that that grab my heart: Steinbeck, Alcott (Don't laugh! I have a whole theory about the similarities in their styles
), Wharton, Twain, McMurtry (earlier rather than later, here), even Shakespeare. Writers with similar humor would be Irving, Roddy Doyle. His childlike wonder: Bradbury, Gaiman (who led me to Pratchett--he's hilarious, so we're back to humor). Then there are all the fine writers who write in counterpoint to Mr. King--precise where he's expansive, cooler where he's emotional. They all balance together and against a King-sized (heh-heh) yardstick in my head/heart. But I read them all, because reading good writing both builds your skills and the lexicon you draw upon (for writery types) and enriches your mental and emotional playground as a human being. SO figure out how Mr. King is feeding your inner animal, then search for writers that can do something similar. Eventually, you'll catch on something in them that leads you to someone else, and that person will lead you elsewhere, and then... Oh, the places you'll go!