I don't remember the first story I wrote, but the earliest one I do remember dates back to the late 1980s, and was a modern day ghost story inspired by Boston's legendary Lady In Black.

It all starts with nothing more than an idea. Usually I dive right in and start writing, allowing myself to follow the story wherever it goes. Once that's done, I'll go back and refine it, adding and removing plot points and other elements as necessary until I have a cohesive, flowing story.

I read a wide variety, most commonly military/techno-thrillers and horror. Oddly enough, I rarely read erotica, despite being an erotica writer.

I grew up in a suburb of Boston, but my creative outlets were more musical than literary. I've always enjoyed creative writing, but I've only recently taken to it seriously, so my writing is influenced more by my experiences as a young adult.

To put it bluntly, a desire to earn a little extra money through one of my many creative outlets. I've been a musician almost my entire life, but I've always been involved just for the pure joy of it. I've also been a photographer since about 2002, and while I do occasionally make a little money with my camera, that's also something I do simply because I enjoy it. I started writing from the same mindset, but came to realize erotica is the easiest genre for me, because I love sex in a wide variety of flavors, and let's face it...sex sells!

Finishing!!! Immediately behind that is getting feedback from the small circle of friends I have as test readers. Good or bad, the information I get back from them is priceless.

A small anthology of erotica inspired by (but otherwise unrelated to) "Star Wars: Tales From The Mos Eisley Cantina." For those of you unfamiliar with that book, it's a collection of marginally interconnected short stories featuring the background characters from the cantina scene in the original Star Wars film. My current project takes the basic concept and places it in modern times, set in a particular type of adult entertainment establishment. Beyond that, I'm finalizing a number of stories for publication, my first works!

Most of my downtime is spent either at my full-time job, out getting that next great photo, or with my son.

I'm a bit of a traditionalist in the sense that I prefer the feel, smell, and sound of paper pages when I read. Having gotten a start in writing ebooks, I'm bound to start reading them soon enough, and I'll probably just take my cue from my own literary tastes and go from there.

I can't really pin down five favorite books, but I think I can narrow it down at least to series and authors. In no particular order:

1: Richard Marcinko's Rogue Warrior series - I'm a military veteran (navy, same branch as Capt. Marcinko), and I love his style of in-your-face storytelling, and the man is funny!

2: Pretty much anything by Dean Koontz, pre-1995-ish. That's not to say I dislike anything after that point. I just happen to be a huge fan of his classic works.

3: Anything by Stephen King. Really no explanation needed. I prefer his earlier works through about the mid-90s, but I've never read a BAD Stephen King novel.

4: Brad Meltzer. I love his take on political intrigue, and I'm also a big fan of Brad Meltzer's Decoded.

5: If I had to pick a single all-time favorite book, it would have to be David Kagan's "Sunstroke." A little-known techno-thriller, and absolutely frightening because it's based on very real everyday technology taken to an extreme and gone very very wrong.