R.A. Salvatore, Elaine Cunningham, David Eddings, Stephen King, Weiss and Hickman, Gary Gygax

My daughter primarily. She's my heart. She's disabled (cerebral palsy) but has me firmly wrapped around her little finger. She gives my life purpose.

I work in the mental health field as my "day job". I spend as much time with my kids (son and daughter) as I can.

The first "original" story I ever wrote was a series called the Archway Chronicles. The premise was that a prophecy on an another world all but ensured that the world could only be save by a 'Kwan-josen', a foretold champion from another world. The first few stories featured a high school nerd that traveled to the planet and overcame his physical and social flaws to become the champion the world foretold. It was written in 1990. I still have some of the notes on my computer. I may return to it at some point in the future.

It depends on what I'm writing. When I'm writing fantasy, the story tends to evolve as I write. I usually have a basic story, or at least the beginning of one, and as I write it evolves into the story it's going to be. I rarely outline those stories, but I do tend to do a great deal of world building. Even the bouncer has a data file in my computer, just in case.
I tend to listen to music while writing it helps me set the mood in the scenes I write.
The only time I have found myself outlining heavily is on the horror project I am starting. Fantasy comes natural to me, might be the decades of running games of all kinds.

I have been reading since I was 3. The first book I remember reading and enjoying was a collection of Greek and Roman mythologies. The magic and mystery of it all kept my interest for years. It came to a boiling point when I read the Lord of the Rings series for the first time around the age of 9. From there I wrote short stories featuring elves, dwarves, minotaurs and Medusa (a rather odd obsession for me). I picked up the Dungeons and Dragon Basic Edition shortly thereafter and never looked back. I've played every edition since except 4th which I hated. I currently run a game with my stepson in 5e, featuring his bard Raveron and traveling mage companion Dax. I have been writing in one form or another since.

In a perfect world, I like my covers to convey the overall story in a snapshot. Dark Harvest for example is a dragon story, so it made sense for dragons to be on the cover. I could have went with a ruined city, or focus on the heroine in the story. There were several ideas that I had to choose from, so ultimately I went with what looked best to me.

This is so difficult so I'll make it five favorite series, simply because most the books I love most are part of a series. In fact my top five (at the time of writing ) are parts of series. So in order:

1. Lord of the Rings - I read the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings at least once a year. While I also enjoy the other Tolkien novels like Book of Lost Tales, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil...the original quartet stole my heart.
2. Dragonlance Saga - The first series I actually binge read. I read all the books available at the time (30 or so) in one summer. Stories were brilliant, Weiss and Hickman are among my favorite authors.
3. Legend of Drizzt - Some 30 novels later, the series almost lost me, but the new twist on old characters drew me back to see how my favorite dark elf would fare.
4. The Mallorean - David Eddings series is brilliant.
5. The Safehold Series - Not high fantasy like the others, I received the first book as a gift, and it sat on my desk for months before boredom caused me to pick it up, and the 3 that were out at the time in rapid time.

Mostly fantasy books, usually set in the Forgotten Realms, or Dragonlance. I read the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit at least once a year. As a recovering comic book addict, I still sample a few titles a few times a year if I'm not re-reading a favorite story like the Dark Phoenix Saga or Kingdom Come (still my all time favorite comic).

Anything Android