My childhood started in Buena Park, California - with a unobscured view of Knott's Berry Farm from my bedroom window - but I've yet to grow up. Because I moved frequently, not one particular place would have influenced me. What I can say is reading became an essential part of my life, and in turn influenced my writing.
I became an avid reader in Elementary School; books like 'See Spot Run' were not enough to quench my literary thirst. It wasn't until Junior High School that I found a desire to write. A teacher had been working on a thesis paper for her master's degree that she showed to the English class. What intrigued me, and why she showed it off so proudly, was her ability to accomplish the professor's odd rule for her assignment (I don't remember how many pages she had to write, but it was more than two) - no one sentence could began with the same word. This had my head swimming about what someone could accomplish if they set their minds to it.
But, as teens normally do, I rebelled in High School when they placed me in an advanced English class. If I had a chance to do it all over I would sit through class analyzing poems like El Dorado and enjoy it. Years went by before I picked up a pen to scribble any ideas down.

My earliest intentions for writing began as a hobby. There were not any set goals or deadlines to meet. I wrote for the pure fun of it and to see if I could build worlds like some of the authors I enjoyed reading. Becoming an indie author never crossed my mind. I can't say I actively sought out agents or traditional publisher for my manuscripts, but there is one person that helped push me forward.
Becoming an author falls in my wife's lap. She read numerous stories I'd written over the years and suggested I publish a book. Yes, I owe it to her for pushing me in a direction I never knew I wanted to go. That's how Temperature: Dead and Rising ended up as my first publish novel.

It has to be the daydreaming. Outlines, character profiles, and first drafts come later, but daydreaming kicks everything off. Think of it as Monday Night Football. It will be a great game; however, what gets your blood pumping comes from hearing the opening music, "Are you ready for some..." This is when your mind starts imagining how the game will turn out - daydreaming about a game that hasn't happened yet. Sounds kind of like writing a book, right?

A Nexus tablet.

What sits on my desk isn't expressly for writing. Let me put it this way - after a volley of high-explosive missiles are detonated for testing, what is left behind looks cleaner than my desk. I keep organized piles of mayhem scattered about to keep my Donald Duck lamp and printer company.

I have several novel starts going at the moment. The third novel in my Temperature Trilogy is still in the works, a book adaptation for the movie 'County Road 14' is second on my list of books to do, and several more (five in all) fill up my writer's to-do list. While all that is going on. I am trying my hand at audiobooks for the novels already in print. Look for those soon.