I first started writing when I was in middle-school. I began to write short stories some of which were twenty pages long. Of course, they were hand written, I didn't have the use of a typewriter and computers were impossible to contemplate as word processors. They were only for science and space travel.

I usually get an idea for a story from things I see, that inspire me. God's creation inspires me every time I see it. Whether it be the starkness of winter or the lushness of summer, or the beauty of the night sky. Music inspires me as well. I use music when I want to write something dramatic. Often movie soundtracks help with that. When I have an idea for a new story I think about it a lot. Once,I read another author's take on the process of writing, he said that we are always writing even when we are sitting around thinking about our story. That was very encouraging to me. I begin to write the story and it takes me a few weeks to a few months to finish one. Then I ask my writer friends to give me their opinion of it. Sometimes it's hard to hear constructive criticism because it can hurt. Not because they are being mean, it's because I made the story and I am tempted to believe that it is perfect the way it is. That's why I ask them to give me their opinions, I know they want to help.

Then after I am satisfied that I have done everything I can to make it as good as it can be, I put together a layout of the book that shows the page breaks and where every illustration should be. Then I start on the illustrations.

Often I use one of the illustrations in the picture book that I am working on for the cover design. Sometimes, I have to make a design for the title pages, that is usually a separate design from the other pictures.

I am working on a story called Buddy the Bird-dog and the Tree-kitty. It is about a dog that can fly who meets a squirrel. He has never seen a squirrel so he doesn't know what it is. He calls it a Tree-kitty. The squirrel keeps yelling at Buddy to get away from his tree. Buddy decides that the tree-kitty is being mean, so he wants to teach him a lesson. So, Buddy flies up into the tree and surprises the tree-kitty. Throughout the story Buddy learns that sometimes others do things that seem mean but that are really for good reason.

I find the greatest joy in solving problems in my stories. Sometimes I get stuck and I like the process of figuring out what comes next.

I grew up in Salinas California. It is known for growing and shipping produce all over the US. It is part of the 'lettuce capital of the world.' Besides the books I found in the school library, my writing was also influenced by the city library. That's where I found the science fiction section. I thought I had died and gone to heaven!

Yes, the first story I ever wrote was a science fiction. It was inspired partly by the books I began to read and partly by the science fiction movies and TV shows I watched.

My desk is a work in progress, mainly that it becomes cluttered with papers and devices (like my graphics tablet and stylus) and after a while I just have to take an hour or two to straighten it out and clean it up so I can see the wood beneath everything else. I work better when it is uncluttered.

I wanted to get my stories out to people who would learn from and enjoy them. My desire is to help people in their search for God and my first two books are centered around God.

My fans are everything to me. They are the ones who make my books successful. They encourage me and make me want to keep writing.

The first story I ever read because it seemed interesting, exciting, and adventurous was one I found in my middle-school library. It was a story of a girl and her horse. I love horses and I wanted one so badly then. That story began the makings of the writer in me.

I like to read adventure, fantasy, science fiction, and sometimes thriller stories. Lately I have been reading books from Project Gutenberg.org. Many of their books are from before the turn of the twentieth century. I like them because they show me a time when people lived differently than we do now. Some of them have helped me with the setting of a novel I am working on.

I own a Kindle Fire HD and read on that. I enjoy it immensely.

My favorite authors change over time. I used to read Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Isaac Asimov (I Robot, etc.), Robert Heinlein, Catherine McCaffery (the Dragons of Pern). Right now I am reading Owen Wister (the Virginian, Project Gutenberg), Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes stories also on Project Gutenberg).

I like to draw, using pen and ink to complete digital art, I also like to play the guitar and read and I like to play adventurous games.