I started writing small snippets of my upcoming novel (tentatively named Slipping Realities) a few years ago. The ideas that were in the back of my mind since I was 15 years old started to resurface and I mentally developed them. I decided to start writing these ideas down, with the goal of getting them together into a novel.

A man is the sole survivor of his research lab's destruction. The lab was destroyed while encountering a mysterious void on the outer reaches of the solar system. But he seems to notice things changing around him, while at the same time gaining memories of an ancient calamity.

I have a story to tell! Rather than keep it locked up in my head, I want to get it out into a book, available to anyone interested. But I don't have any formal schooling for creative writing, so I considered my chances of getting accepted by the big publishing houses very slim. When I found out about Smashwords, I realized this is one of the best options for self-publishing my story. So I started writing.

Neal Stephenson is my favourite, followed by authors such as Isaac Asimov, H.G. Wells, Kim Stanley Robinson, Douglas Adams, and Deepak Chopra. But I keep an open mind and continuously check out other authors. I read both fiction and non-fiction, and not necessarily Science/Science Fiction.

I work full-time as a computer programmer, and I have several other hobbies, including geocaching, woodworking, wine-making, and ballroom dancing with my wife.

I'm not a visual artist, so I hire others to do the design. Once I'm nearing completion of a story, and have a solid plot outline, I contact a few designers for ideas. My upcoming short story already has a cover, designed by Smashwords member Tatiana Vila (and she did a superb job!)

Science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction on science, or the occasional spiritual book, such as from Daisaku Ikeda, Deepak Chopra, or Eckhart Tolle. I'm also a sucker for young authors. At a Farmer's Market in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, I came across a table behind which sat a 16-year old author named Tope Babalola, who writes teen fiction. I bought his first published work, an adventure novel called Jungle Flame. I put down Kim Stanley Robinson's Blue Mars for now to read this young man's book.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0, using Google Books, Kindle Reader, or Moon+ Reader.

My first short story has gone through one round of editing. It's a side-story that I decided to write, to introduce the reader to the upcoming novel's environment. Once I have that published, I'll work on the novel itself. Hopefully I don't stray too far to one of the other of multiple ideas I have for stories!

To entertain readers and I get my ideas out of my head and into the world! I've had ideas sitting in my mind since I was 15 years old, and when those scenes started developing further in the last few years, I started to get excited about it, and I wanted to share it. Now I'm doing that, and I find it exciting. I'm starting to wonder why I hadn't started doing this years ago.