That really depends on the given day! Mostly, it's Robin McKinley and Anne McCaffrey. There are very few books I vividly remember reading as a teen, and the ones I remember the most are the DRAGONRIDERS OF PERN trilogy and THE BLUE SWORD. I also really love a couple of Madeleine L'Engle's works, as well; RING OF ENDLESS LIGHT, in particular.

I read. A lot. I read both in traditional format and on my Kindle. I also like to do some roleplaying on tumblr. I think of it as a way to keep my storywriting teeth sharp, because you have to respond to your partner and their creativity. And it teaches you what people like to see happen in a story, what they respond well to, and what they don't. I also love to garden. I have a lovely rose garden.

Mostly, through my library's e-library, which is the Jasmine Digital Library. Every day or every other day, I go on to see what's been newly added. I have such a long wishlist to get through.

Vaguely. I was inspired by an episode of the Cryptkeeper. I think it was about these two friends who get trapped at an evil scientist's castle. I never finished it. In my mind, one of the girls is still running around, looking for her friend. I hope she finds her one day.

I don't know if you would really call it a process. I get an idea, but I don't write it down. I let it stew in the back of my mind for a while. Sometimes, for weeks. Sometimes, for much longer. Normally, I just have a phrase or an image in my mind. When I'm ready to commence writing, I'll make myself a small pot of tea, sit down at my computer, and start writing! I prefer to write in the afternoon or the evening. I don't generally like to listen to music. If I do, it's an album that I feel describes what is going on in the story and the characters. But I prefer silence. If I get stuck, I'll step back and leave the story alone for a while. Sometimes, I'll brainstorm and try to work it out. A lot of times, though, the reason why I'm stuck is because the story wants to go in a direction I don't want it to go, and so part of my process is simply letting go and letting the story tell itself.

Generally, I take an idea, or a place, to work with. I think of covers as metaphors that are meant to draw the reader to the book. I try to go for eye-catching colors without it being garish. I want it to be interesting to look at. I want the reader to look at the picture and wonder what's beyond it.

I adore my Kindle Fire. I really prefer it to the Sony I had, though the latest Nook looks fairly interesting. But, to be honest, with so many tablets coming out, and so many smart phones with reading apps, it almost seems unnecessary to have an e-reader. But that's just my opinion.

I wrote the very first draft of CLARA when I was fourteen. At the time, though, her name was Alisha and not Clara, and the plot was very different. However, the idea of a girl discovering herself stuck with me through the years, and I kept going back to rewrite that original story. I've written a lot of other things that haven't been published (yet) but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. I desperately wanted to write a story about a girl who, instead of sitting around and waiting to be told what to do, goes out to decide on her own what she should do. To act on her own conscience, rather than the conscience of another, all the while having to face her own darker self. I feel like that was what pushed me to write CLARA and what is going on in the heart of the story.

I grew up in the deep country of South Carolina. I remember trips into town were done about once a week and were considered day trips. My mother would plan out all the places she wanted to go and all the things she needed to get. Even though gas was cheaper at the time, we didn't have the money to drive more often into town.

This made me learn how to entertain myself. I think it really encouraged my love for reading and daydreaming. And in the country, the nights can be very dark. That alone encourages telling stories and wondering "What's out there?" I think that question is very fundamental to a writer. Writing stories is a way to answer that question of what's out there in the dark, no matter the genre.

I was around nine or ten, maybe a little younger. I remember having all these words piling up in my mind and I didn't really have anyone to tell them to. So, I began writing them down in the form of stories and poems.

My latest novel is WILLOWS OF FATE. The idea for it came in high school when I noticed that, sometimes, when you see something out of the corner of your eye, it's easy to mistake it for something else. Then, I thought, "Well, what if you see things no one else can see but it's not the usual ghosts? What if it's knights and centaurs and such? What then?" And the plot slowly developed from there. I let stories live in my mind a long time before they're ready to be "given birth" and this one lived in my mind for a long while before I decided to put it to paper.

I got tired of trying to get the attention of an agent or a publishing house. I had been trying for a while and I really wanted to get my first novel out. When I noticed just how many people were self-publishing, I had a "why not?" moment. I plunged in totally unprepared and on the spur of a moment. Self-publishing presents all sorts of challenges and a desire to succeed kicked in. I want to keep trying to get my voice out there and I find I like the amount of control I have over the editing and cover art, something I wouldn't have through traditional means.

The act of creating. I love creating and crafting a world out of my own mind. I also love when my own story surprises me.

They mean so much to me because it means something is echoing back. I'm not just shouting into the dark. It means that something is relating to what I write and that means the world to me.

At the moment, I'm working on the first of what will be a novella series. Once all the novellas are written, I plan to release them once a month.

A lot of fantasy, sometimes historical mysteries or non-fiction. I've read some sci-fi and I find I really like travel books.

Blog tours are great, as is twitter. Those two have been very helpful to me. I recently got a full Adobe suite and I hope to try my hand at making a book trailer.

My desk is very small. My computer takes up most of the space. There's one of those cage thingees that holds folders filled with character, plot, and world information, my writing notebook, and other papers. I also have a yellow holder for pens and pencils. Behind my computer is the wall and I have poems and inspirational quotes on it. And there's a photo done by a professional photographer whose a friend of mine. It's called "Super Moon" and it shows the moon through tree branches. Whenever I get stuck, I stare at that photo. It helps me and I can really explain why.