I have been writing in some form or other since I was in High School. At that time I wrote short stories for the amusement of my friends and myself. In later life I have always written, but mainly in a professional capacity, such as training and instruction manuals. Writing fiction is a fairly new venture for me, but something I have always wanted to do.

Everything!!! Where would a writer be without readers.

The need to write, I guess. I have had a head full of stories my whole life. Everyone says they have a story inside, but I have always had a dozen. The fact that many promising authors never get there because of the difficulty of navigating the traditional print publishing minefield rather puts me of that route. Indie publishing in ebook form strikes me as a better path to follow.

I am definitely a convert to the Indie Publishing concept, mainly because of the number of good stories which have never got out there through print publishing due to the need for publishers to make a profit and bookshops to keep their shelf full with fast movers. Smashwords makes it so easy - all I have to do is come up with what I hope readers will see as an enjoyable read.

Just the creative process. Being able to get a story out of my head and onto paper (so to speak).

I love the classic greats of Sci-Fi, such as Ben Bova, Asimov and A.C. Clarke, as well as Action adventure writers such as Matthew Reilly, Dan Brown and Clive Custler.

Life, love and the chance to get something done. I lead a busy life, and at the end of the day I am never happy unless I have achieved something that day.

I read an awful lot of books. I am involved in local clubs, and I love driving, travelling, live theatre and movies. Never enough time in the day.

I tend to follow authors I like, but also I am a huge browser. I will give anything, in any genre a shot, just to see if I like it. Thank god for samples and ratings! I am also a huge BookBub fan.

Yes. It was called "The Black Hand". I was in primary school, it was absolute rubbish, but then I was only about twelve years old at the time.

I always work on a laptop. I try to get in some writing, editing or whatever, every day if possible. As far as my story lines go, I compose most of them at night when I should be sleeping. I will focus on a scene, sort it, and the the next day, get up and write it.

The first book of any sort I ever owned was a children's picture book given to me by my grandfather when I was a very small child. It was about how 'Goofy' was discovered and became a star. I don't remember the actual impact, but I do remember I carried it with me everywhere (until it fell apart.)
As a teenager, I really got into reading with the classic sci-fi novels of Asimov. They have and always will be a guiding influence on my own writing.

Sadly, when it comes to cover design, I am a non starter, so my book covers are done by professional cover artist (who personally I think is exceptionally talented).

Anything and everything. In the last year I have read action/adventure, science fiction, historical fiction, a couple of classics, romance novels, and even Stephen Hawkins' "A Brief History of Time".I usually have at least 3-4 books on the go at anyone time, and usually they are all different genres.

I prefer the Kindle format. I don't have a Kindle, but I have the reader on my Pad and several computers. I also have a large collection of PDFs, on the same devices.

Usually? A mess!. I guess I am the classic Nabokov style writer, struggling over every word at a desk in a dim room surrounded by screwed up paper (Modify description for modern technology) and empty coffee cups.

I have lived in Australia all my life. I guess this has helped form my open, broad minded approach to life, and we Aussies are known for our generally cavalier approach. I consider myself somewhat cosmopolitan however. There are many things in the world which have influenced my writing .