Writing always begins with a sense of wonder. It could be a dream that jarred me, something I read in a book or heard in a conversation (or better yet, in somebody else's conversation) and it gets me thinking. What would it be like to ride a rocket to certain death, or infiltrate enemy lines to save your lover, or hold the power of a dragon in the palm of your hand? That's the fun part--the imagining. But that's not enough. At some point, I have to turn it into a story. I have to figure out where it's all going and see if that's worth telling people. And if it is, then I have to cheat. I have to go back and plant all the clues, the foreshadowing, the symbols, the magic that make the whole experience of reading a story so gratifying.

Top five books in reverse order:
#5 The Lord of the Rings, because it is the single greatest romantic epic of our time. (Sorry Game of Thrones but I'm not sure you know where you're going with that one.)
#4 The Bourne Identity, because it is the quintessential modern spy novel.
#3 Fahrenheit 451, because Ray Bradbury was the best Science Fiction writer of his time.
#2 Macbeth, because it is the darkest, creepiest and most magically awesome of Shakespeare's plays.
#1 The King James Bible, because it laid the foundation for western literature, culture, law and spiritual truth.

I love R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt Do'urden series, Game of Thrones (guilty as charged), Harry Potter (Yeah, I know!), The Shadow (now that's going back), Max Brand, Kim Stanley Robinson, Dan Simmons, classic SF like Heinlein and Asimov, classic mystery like Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, anything that's on the AP Literature reading list (not all of it that pleasurable) and whatever's new, from bestsellers to short stories in tiny zines nobody has ever heard of.

I generally read my phone or Asus tablet, but I would love to get a Kindle Paperwhite or a little Nook like I bought for my dad.

I wish I had the silver bullet for this one. I don't spend enough time promoting my books and I feel guilty about that. Mostly I just keep writing short stories for magazines and hope that will generate some interest in my books. Hasn't worked yet.

Not a mess, if that's what you're thinking. But it is overcrowded. Old desktop computer (not a tower) with plugs for speakers, microphone, GPS watch, iPod, camera--too many cables to keep track off. There's a little corner for my Asus Transformer and another spot for an IKEA lamp and my night-time reading, which is currently the Nebula Awards Showcase and a novel by Salman Rushdie.

I grew up in Vancouver, Canada--the majestic West Coast. The mountains and beaches were so close I could literally ski and sail on the very same day. Vancouver was, and still is, a very multicultural place. Although racism existed in my city, tolerance was a stronger force. As a result, I developed a profound respect for other cultures. This is evident in my writing, as is the influence of anything to do with martial arts.

I wrote stories in school. We all did. We had to. But I soon discovered that I really liked it. I had no concept of what a story was at that time. There was no real plot development. It was all just pure story...that went nowhere. But it did help me to appreciate other stories that actually had a plot, and how difficult the craft of story writing really was.

My next series of novels is about a retired FBI agent who goes on a killing spree while on vacation with his wife. Sounds intriguing? I hope so. But you'll have to wait. I don't want to publish until I have the first three completed.

I avoided indie publication for a long time, mostly because of the bad press Print On Demand and Vanity Press got back in the eighties. I wanted to be a real author competing for a spot on the bestsellers list in the local supermarket. So I banged my head against the wall for a number of years sending my manuscripts off to every publisher and agent that made the mistake of posting their address on line. When that failed, I was just about to plunk my novel in a drawer and give up, when an indie publisher offered to publish my book for me on Smashwords. I was skeptical, but what did I have to lose? Better on line than in a drawer.

When I'm not writing, I read a lot of books, or listen to them on my iPod. I also train for marathons. Sometimes I train for marathons and listen to books on my iPod at the same time. But what I enjoy the most is teaching English literature at a local Christian school four kilometers from my house. As I tell my students, you need to be part of something bigger than yourself. For me, that something bigger is my school and my church.