I read novels for many years before I ever seriously considered writing one. Often, as I read a book, I would think, I would have done this or that with the plot or characters. I wrote a short story titled Grandma’s House in 1985 while living in Japan and then another three short stories while deployed on board ships in the Pacific before and during the Gulf War, in late 1990 & 1991, but I didn’t even try to get these published at the time.

It wasn’t until I retired from the navy and started attending a local writer’s critique group that I learned enough, and grew confident enough, of my writing to attempt a novel. Twenty-seven years after writing the original draft of Grandma’s House, I released my first novel, Titan Encounter, in July of 2012.

I didn’t start reading novels until I was in Middle School. The first book I read was Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein. After that, I read all of Heinlein’s works. I read many of the science fiction novels of Arthur C. Clark and Isaac Asimov, including his Foundation series.

Also during my teen years I started reading end-of-the-world books, a genre we now call post-apocalyptic. The first book in this genre I read was, The Earth Abides, by George Stewart. Later came books like Alas Babylon, On the Beach, Lucifer’s Hammer and many more.

I have never stopped reading and the list of authors that I enjoy continues to expand.

Yes, the first book I read was Starman Jones by Robert A. Heinlein. The year was 1970 and I was in the eighth grade. My family had recently moved to a very rural area of Colorado, beyond the reach of television and most radio. One day in desperation for entertainment I borrowed the book from my sister who was also interested in science fiction. I never gave the book back to her and still have that original paperback copy of Starman Jones in my library. That book taught that reading could be fun. I doubt that I would have ever written a story if I hadn’t first learned to enjoy reading.

When my first three books were published I still taught in the Alaskan Yup’ik Eskimo village of Eek. This tiny village of about 300 people is in the Yukon, Kuskokwim delta region of Western Alaska. There are no roads to this village, so you get here either by bush plane or cross country via snowmobile. The school is by far the biggest building in the village and a big part of the social life of the community. Since there are only a few teachers, we stay busy. Writing was what I did in my spare time.

Now I am a full-time writer. I live on a small hobby farm in western Washington state. On the farm, my wife and I grow a large garden, tend an orchard and raise chickens. I also keep two hives of bees and, of course, I read.

Yes, it is a short story titled Grandma’s House. It is a Twilight Zone style sci-fi mystery. I wrote the first draft in 1985 and will soon be giving it away free on my website.

I do most of my reading on a Kindle Fire, but I also have an iPad, a PC with Windows 8 on it. All of the devices have at least one ereader system on them.

I enjoy many things about being a writer. However, one thing I really enjoy is the commute. When I taught in the Yupik Eskimo village of Eek, the commute from my apartment to the school was 34 steps. Such a short commute was helpful on days the temperature was -40, but now my commute is shorter, six steps from my bedroom to my office chair—and the temperature is much more pleasant.

The other thing I enjoy is the freedom. I devote the morning hours of the workweek to writing and I rarely allow any deviation from that schedule, but I set up that schedule and, if necessary, can adjust and shift it. Having that freedom every day is fantastic.

I’m a pantser (seat of the pants) writer and never write a story in a linear way. Sometimes, I have a limited outline, but often I’ll write the last chapter and then the first and figure out the middle as I write. With many author this does lead to writer’s block. However, since I don’t write in a linear way, I have the freedom to work on any part of the story that I feel inspired about that day. So, if I wake up with an idea that inspires me, I work on that.

Another way I get around writer’s block is by working on several stories so if I have difficulty with one, I can take a break from it and work on another.