Good ones. Something that captures my imagination and holds it. It's really that simple.

Lately, I've been reading books from movies that I loved as a kid. The last three I read were Jaws, Poltergeist and Psycho. I finally read Gone Girl as well. And I'm catching back up on my Stephen King. Haven't read him in a while. That dude writes a lot of damn books.

I have a Nook, but I'll admit, I use the Kindle app on it. I also use Overdrive for library books and I'm a big fan of audiobooks because I have a healthy commute to and from work.

Early on, the free book or free chapter was teh most effective technique.In the last couple of years, sales have been struggling. It has a lot to do with the amount of competition out there, and a lot to do with the fact that I just don't do as much legwork as I used to.

My desk is homemade and green. The computer monitor and keyboard sit in the middle. There are shelves in the back that hold part of my skull collection and various toys including my Nightmare Before Christmas set and my black and white Munsters collection. One day I'll have my dungeon and I'll move the writing desk down there.

I was born in Connecticut, but moved when I was five. I spent age five to almost sixteen in central Indiana and then sixteen through college in southeastern North Carolina. There's a lot of folk lore in both of those locations. I grew up watching late night horror hosts and my mother was a huge fan of true crime and the likes of King and Straub. I was doomed in the best possible way.

I wrote a lot as a kid and won awards in high school. Local stuff, nothing major. Then I found music and for about fifteen years, I didn't really write anything. When I joined the Navy at twenty-nine years old, I found floating around in the Pacific ocean gave me a lot of time to think, and time to write. After I got out of the Navy, I started publishing books.

My latest book, Dig, is about a family that has been digging a hole for seven generations. They don't know what is at the bottom, but they're about to find out. Meanwhile, a man named Rusty is home after twenty years away for a high school reunion. He notices something is fundamentally different about his hometown. Something is wrong, and it's getting worse. As the violence grows, Rusty must figure out what is going on and that he may be the only one who can fix it.

Lack of patience. Waiting for a book to be accepted by a publisher and then waiting for the book to be edited and compromising on titles, cover art, release date, etc. just made my chest hurt. It can take a year or more to get a book published traditionally. Once I published my first book, I was hooked.

Smashwords has definitely given me abilities I wouldn't have had otherwise. I wouldn't say I've really had any success just yet, but when I do, Smashwords will definitely be on the thank you list.

Seeing where the characters go because you don't always know when you create them. You just know who they are and then let them react to situations. When a scene works out or a chapter works out or a story arc works out, it's worth all the headache...and when someone else reads it, gets it and says, "Hey, that was cool." It feels really good.

It's a kick to have people read your work and like it. The ones who take the time to say so are the greatest. The ones I don't know about are the greatest, too...I just don't know about them! I would write whether people read my work or not, but it does give some validation to my writing, and that is cool.

I have another short story collection called "Down the Psycho Path" that I'm finishing up. I'm always writing short stories and occasionally those grow into novels. Other than that, I'm focusing most of my energy on writing screenplays because film is where I really want to be.

What else are you going to do? Kids, wife, pets, job, life. If I could live without sleeping, I'd never go to bed. Unfortunately, I need at least six hours of sleep or I'm a worthless lump.

Full time job. Wife, children, pets, friends, watching movies, soon to be making movies, and I still love video games.

Typically I venture into the deepest, darkest jungles of the Amazon with my native guide. After I climb down into the ancient caverns and avoid the booby traps, I tip back my fedora and adjust my whip, check the sand bag, set it on the pedestal and remove the golden idol. Then, when the boulder comes, I run.

E.T. 2: The Sequel. I think I was in fourth grade. There are probably earlier stories, but I remember writing and illustrating that one with my friend, Joe...and I still have a copy of it somewhere.

Butt in chair. Fingers on keyboard. Brain on fire.