I stare out into the bleak darkness and blurry Orlando nightscape; brooding in my perch on my apartment's balcony. The bustle and hubbub under me like so many ants and bugs going about their business if ants and bugs drove cars and were latinos. I listen to the wind, a strange, alien call.

Inspiration hits me.

I write.

I create.

I am god.

My mother's cat, "bobtail" was run over when I was a young and impressionable 15 year old. I cried for the better part of a week. What brought me out of that dark time was writing my very first piece of fiction. As luck would have it, it was also a science fiction story, because in the tale, Bobtail was not killed by the truck, but rather reborn as a cybernetically enhanced assassin.

Sometimes our darkest times birth our greatest minds.

I down load interesting pictures of of the web (google image search) and move them around inside of GIMP (Free, open source photoshop alternative) and add various filters until it looks as close to a classic P K Dick cover as I can get.

And then I make it look even better.

To Kill a Mockingbird - I relate to the characters, particularly Boo Radly
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - I love the anarcho-libertarian society therein
No Country for Old Men - I haven't read the book yet but loved the movie except for the end.
Fahrenheit 421 - When I was a kid I loved playing with fire.
The Turner Diaries - A classic!

A good, solid sci fi novel. My current favorite is Alistair Reynolds but I've been known to indulge in Dick in the past. I also enjoy graphic novels and web comics.