Generally, my favorite books are suspense novels, whether spy, cops or plain mysteries.

I was given a Kindle as a gift, but I really prefer an actual book.

I get into every site I can where I can get either my name, my book cover and synopsis or where I can write an article about writing, publishing and marketing to help others.

After high school, I joined the military and spent the next forty-plus years traveling much of the world. The things I did and saw in the military and business gave me a wealth of information about our world and what was happening and when I started writing those experiences seemed to flow out onto the paper.

Two reasons: 1. The difficulty of getting anything accepted or reviewed through the "normal" publisher channels. Unless you are already a giant name, most agents and publishers won't even look at you. 2. I wanted to control and "do" my own books at my pace and get done what I want. I certainly don't mind working with someone, an agent, for instance, who is actually helping me, but to just do what someone else says without really having a reason, NO.

Expressing what I feel, what I've seen and learned over my years of age, travel, etc., and being able to see what is happening in the world around me and writing about that, explaining that, to others.

I'm presently writing about an ex-CIA agent who has "learned too much" and has been secretly imprisoned so his mind can be cleaned. He escapes, meets The Shepherd who tries to help people escape from present lives wrapped in chaos, and decides he wants to expose the people in his own government who are trying to control everyone's life.

My fans are who I am writing to. They are the reason for what I do. I've seen many things in my life, and I'm seeing more today, and I want my fans to see and understand them, too. Not that I'm the expert, but I've "been there, done that," and I want to give those experiences and visions to my fans.

Just a few: Michael Connelly, Ayn Rand, Robert Crais, John Grisham, David Poyer, Hemingway.

The fact that God has made the day and has given me all 24 hours to enjoy, help others and serve Him in it.

I have/get some kind of mental image of a story that I want to share. I somewhat develop a direction I want it to go and a basic ending. Then I simply start writing: sometimes chapter after chapter, sometimes different chapters as they come to mind. Finally, I sit back and start re-writing, moving chapters around, sometimes deleting a whole chapter I see doesn't fit, and editing the whole thing. I don't try to write perfect as I go, and I don't start with a specific plan. I write as I go, then come back and "fix it."

I can't specifically do five, but my top two: The Bible because of the overall impact it has made in my life, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, my "second Bible." for giving me the "secular" view of life as it really is today and starting me on my writing career.