We tend to find something in the story that we find provocative and build from there.

1: Dracula: I have read Dracula five times this year alone. It's February. Not kidding. What I like about Dracula is the normalcy of the storytelling mixed in with what is obviously a very fantastic, supernatural story. What I love about Dracula is the language and the greatness of both the heroes and the villain.
2: Watership Down: This story is just beautiful. I love the language and the sheer imagination.
3: Midnight, moonlight, and the secret of the sea by Darrell Schweitzer: This one may be hard to find. It is worth the effort. The most visual language I have ever read. Surreal story, bordering on the baroque.
4: Dune: Language and philosophy combined with compelling characters and a magnificent plot.
5: The Silmarillion: I know what you're thinking, but hear me out. Tolkien furnishes enough mythology in this book to write at least a hundred books. It is the most magnificent example of imagination and devotion to a project that I have ever seen. I love this book.

I'm obsessed with ideas and will read anything that is conceptualized. I have been leaning towards science fiction these last few months, reading some classics as well as more recent works. Currently reading The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells and Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin. I, also, tend to enjoy reading ancient philosophers.

I like the Kindle, but I also read on my desktop.

Reviews from established book reviewers has helped the most. Facebook has also been pretty good, but I'm old and don't know quite how to interact with people without actually talking to them, so I rely on young people to help me with that.

A castle besieged by books, notebooks, electronic devices, a screen and a keyboard.

We used to move every two years when I was a kid. I grew up in California, Massachusetts, Texas, the Republic of El Salvador, and a few weeks in New York. The way this influenced my writing was by revealing to me how powerful culture and ideas are to human behavior, to such an extent that when I write a character I tend to do so from the point of view of values and beliefs.

Wrote my first story at the age of thirteen. It was imitative of Grimm's fairy tales.

The current story I'm working on is a horror fantasy about a powerful witch that requires suffering to fuel her magic, and it is also the story of a foot-soldier who set in motion the destruction of the world and his attempt to find redemption. In short, it is a story of the lust for power and of redemption.

Most of the big companies require formulaic writing. I do not want this. For me, writing is an experiment. Indie publishing allows me the freedom of experimenting with different styles and genres.

Smashwords has a built in audience, so it saves me the effort of trying to find readers all by myself.