I am working on a YA detective novel called Bangers & Mash in The Case of the Bludgeoned Butchers. The whole projects is definitely a departure form what I usually do, and is in fact inspired by stories and characters that I created for my kids when they were little and begging for bedtime stories.

Clive Barker is my favorite by far, but I also like Stephen King, Bentley Little and Ian Rankin.

It is without a doubt my wife. She is my biggest fan, my greatest critic, and the person who most inspires me to take all the nonsense in my head and put it on the page.

I read whenever I get the chance, and also spend far too much time playing games on Facebook. Life will return to normal when I finally finish Candy Crush Saga.

I belong to a number of different author groups through social media. I also follow a lot of authors on Twitter and try to support their work as much as possible.

Yes. When I was a kid, I would fold over a random number of pieces of paper and then challenge myself to fill the pages. The one that sticks in my mind was the story of a submarine that ran into trouble and went aground on a mysterious island filled with dinosaurs. I always imagined that Michael Crichton found that batch of papers somewhere and was inspired to write Jurassic Park.

I will come up with a basic idea that I then form in my mind through conversations with main characters. The ideas spawn from those imaginary conversations, and it's not until I have a complete beginning, middle, and end that I start to tap away on the laptop. It all comes in a stream of consciousness type flow at that point, with small details filling the holes as I go. Yes, I know it's odd, but it's how I have always done it.

I leave it to someone that knows what they are doing. I am absolutely clueless in that regard.

I started out with a Nook Color, but have since passed that along to my son. I now use a Motorola Xoom tablet.

A cluttered mess. I have stacks of pads with scribbled notes, most of which have rings on then from coffee cups that have spilled over.

I was born and raised in Scotland before moving to Canada at 19, and then eventually to the US where I now reside. I'm not sure that where I lived was an influence, but rather more that I was an incredibly shy child. I much preferred my own company and the lack of stress that provided. I read a lot and always had an incredibly active imagination.