I grew up in the small town of Carbondale, Kansas. There wasn't anything to do growing up, so I spent my time with a few friends, and reading. So, the small town influenced my love of reading, and the love of reading influenced my desire to be a writer.

Ragged Edge comes from my interest in the supernatural, mythology, world religions, and ancient religions. I spend a considerable amount of time reading in all of those subjects and each went into writing this book. I also slipped in a bit of my knowledge on Serial Killers. That's maybe an unhealthy fascination but it's there. In a small dose. I'm not crazy, I promise.

I think being an indie author is the best route for any new author. Traditional publishing is becoming more and more exclusive every year. It's not their fault it's just how the business works. When you publish in a traditional manner there are so many people that have to be paid that there is tremendous pressure on the industry to stick with author's that will definitely sell, stories they know will sell, or knock-offs of stories they know sell. Due to financial risk involved it's very dangerous for a traditional publisher to take a chance on a new author.

Once upon a time that might have spelled doom for anyone wanting to be an author. Now you have the route of indie author. It use to be that if you published yourself you were considered to be not good enough for the "real" publishers. Now it's perfectly acceptable, there are many venues that allow you to publish and distribute your work. Yes, as an indie author you have to do more work than one normally imagines an author doing but you also get higher rewards. The real secret of course is that first time traditionally published authors generally do a lot of the work that indie authors do as well.

The other advantage is being able to have control over almost everything. For me the cover art was almost as important as the story. I love my cover art, and I personally got to choose the artist, tell her what I wanted, ask for changes, and be astounded by the results.

My cover artist, Shaun Clifford, was amazing to work with, she got it done quickly, and she knocked my idea out of the park. Which is even more astounding if you knew how vague my descriptions were.

Seeing my characters come to life. I'm not the type of writer that plots out everything. I have a general idea, one or two characters, a setting, a beginning and an end in mind when I start writing. At first it's a struggle but then something amazing happens and the characters attain a life of their own. Its a point where I'm no longer the writer, I'm an observer, I document and record what happens but lack any real direct control. I've also found that the more I try to control what happens the worse the story becomes. So I let my characters do their thing and I write it down.

My fans are awesome. I didn't think about it much before publishing, but since I've done a book signing for print copies of Ragged Edge and it was great having people come by and want my signature on something I created. A little overwhelming also, if I'm honest.

I love my fans, or as I like to call them friends. I think anyone that gives me their support, buys my books, reads them, and lets me know what they think, good or bad, is somebody I can call a friend.

Since publishing Ragged Edge I've had two short stories published online, one titled The Dream, and one titled She Calls. I'm also working on editing a mystery novel, tentatively titled Hell House, that is very loosely based on my time as a Paranormal Investigator. I do use the name of the group I founded, and most of the main characters are inspired by people I know. I don't want to give too much away so I won't go on any further, but it's a fun mystery with a bit of very mild horror thrown in and, as is frequent in my writing, a nice dose of humor.

This question is horrible because there are so many of them. Lets go to the list, in no particular order.

1. Douglas Adams - Hitchhiker's Guide, Dirk Gently. The man was a genius.
2. Terry Pratchett - The Discworld Series? A masterpiece, fantasy and humor in big doses. I love it.
3. Neil Gaiman - American Gods, His many Short Stories. He can tell stories in so many different voices but they are always essentially him.
4. Chuck Palahniuk - Okay yeah Fight Club was good. Even better than Fight Club? Haunted, a novel with short stories and poetry mixed in and each moves the plot forward. Make Something Up was an awesome collection of short stories. He can use the English language to twist your mind and control your emotions in so many masterful ways it's not even funny.
5. Stephen King - I mean come on, great writer, great man.
6. H.P. Lovecraft - All hail Cthulu. I do say that Lovecraft is difficult to read because the writing is extraordinarily dry but when you stick through it you are rewarded with rich imagery, creeping horrors, and a huge question of "What if?"
7. J.R.R. Tolkien - I write fantasy, how could I not be a fan of Tolkien?

There are plenty more but they say seven is a magical number so I'll stick with seven.

I have a family, I have a regular adult style job, a few friends that I like to meet for coffee once or twice a week. I'm always on the lookout for new music I may like, and new books I may like. One of these days I'd like to get back into the paranormal but right now I don't have the time.

Pretty messy. First an idea for a story will pop into my head. Usually in the form of a question like I wonder would happen if this obscure thing happened to this person who is this species and has these problems. Then I'll spend time creating the main character. This can last for days, weeks, even months. At this point I haven't written a word but I'm building the story, the characters, and the world in my head.

When I finally sit down to start writing the very first thing I do is pick a play list. Music is integral to my writing process. Each short story, and novel has it's own soundtrack. Ragged Edge was born while I was listening to a mix of everything from Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and Frank Sinatra, to The Black Eyed Peas, Marilyn Manson, and Rise Against. I'll be honest and say there was also little bit of Weird Al, and a touch of classical. The music would help set the mood for certain scenes. Although I was much more likely to write an action sequence listening to Jazz than I was heavy metal.

1. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy (even though there are five). I count this as one because I have the omnibus edition. Sci-fi and Comedy just tickles my fancy. A good dose of the absurd as well makes this series great.

2. The Stand - Yes it's quite a few hundred words longer than what makes a comfortable read, but every word is necessary and entertaining.

3. Haunted - I'm not sure why to be honest. The book is twisted as all hell but I love it.

3. IT - I mean, how can you not love IT?

4. American Gods - Probably not the take away that Neil Gaiman was looking for but I think this answers the question What if God was one of us? Answer... he would probably be an asshole to be honest. Still very entertaining and an interesting take on ancient Gods.

5. Steel My Soldiers' Hearts - This is a book written by Col. David Worth about his time with one brigade in Vietnam. It's a good read if you're into military history.

Everything. I've listed some of my favorite books and authors. Recently I've read You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day, she's one of my favorite actresses. I've also read Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by Dalai Lama and Arch Bishop Desmund Tutu, and I'm currently reading Histories by Herodotus.

So yeah, I read everything. I particularly enjoy anything about Ancient Mythologies, Military history, Biographies of people I admire, Horror, Fantasy, and True Crime.