I could go on for some time with this answer, but I'll try to KISS (Keep It Short Silly).

Edgar Rice Burroughs "Princess of Mars" series is at the top of my list. The characters he created, the visuals he imparted, they are mesmerizing. The books were written with characters that were noble, larger than life, and truly likable. The stories were simple, fast-moving, and captivating.

The "Mars" trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson is another favourite. The author geeked out on terraforming, as well as the changes to human children born on Mars. He provided an escapist story, where you could sit back and get lost in a new world. It was a world, however, that he made seem very plausible.

Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series is hysterical! I loved how he made things that are mundane to us, seem silly or even special. His rich characters, his settings, his story lines are entertaining to say the least. He is one of the few authors to make me laugh out loud as I'm reading their work.

I can't end this question without mentioning Isaac Asimov, particularly his "Foundation" series. This was my first real experience with science fiction. His writing style was a bit rought for a young boy to get used to at first. However, he soon captivated me with his words, his stories, his vision. This is a series I highly recommend for all of the young sci-fi fans in your life.

I usually read science fiction. The last three books I finished are from Alex J. Cavanaugh's trilogy: CassaStar, CassaFire & CassaStorm. Interesting plot, great characters, and a great ending. He combined great battle scenes, personal angst & growth, and a fantastic love story.

I like cover designs that provoke an emotional response. In my first two books, "I Apologize for Nothing" (A Man's Poetry) and "Mama's Slippers" (A stage play), I chose stock images that would provoke a laugh (poetry book) and one that would tug at the heart strings (Mama's Slippers). For my first sci-fi novel, I hired an illustrator to create a specific cover. I wanted it to reflect the shock the character would be going through, as well as his ability to survive in dire circumstances. I believe that the cover is important to the story. An author needs to invest in creating something unique, rather than something from a catalog​ of templates.

For my sc-fi short story collection, I used a royalty free image from NASA. The cover shot called "Earthrise" was one that I had to use, as it's the image that almost always comes to mind when I think science-fiction.

I have a Kobo. I couldn't afford the Kindle when I purchased it. I was going in the hospital for brain surgery. I wanted something easy to carry around and hold during the recovery process. So, I bought the Kobo, loaded it up with some books, and it suited me fine. I like what it offers and how well the pages display, in any lighting condition. I don't need all the bells and whistles. It's simple and that suits​ me fine. I have nothing against Kindle, it was just too expensive back then.

I started writing poetry and short stories when I was fourteen. The poetry I kept, finding it thirty years later. I added some new stuff and published the small book "I Apologize for Nothing" in 2014. The short stories, I never kept those. I didn't think they were good enough. For the last ten years, I have been involved in writing for business: proposals, technical manuals, etc..

During a time in my life when I was dealing with emotional baggage from the past, I wrote "Mama's Slippers". It is a stage play but it reads like a book. I hope to have it produced someday. However, after I had finished it, I felt the drive to write more. I tried writing a few more plays but none of them panned out. Then I went back to poetry, writing a few that I thought were pretty good. However, they still did not satisfy my creative yearnings.

I watched two men I worked with writing their own books. One a book of memoirs, the other a series of poetry books. Watching them inflamed my old desire I had to write sci-fi. Finally, in 2014 I decided that if I didn't just sit down and start writing, I would never write for pleasure. So I did.

I grew up on a small island on Canada's east coast, Campobello Island. The town I lived in, Wilson's Beach, is a fishing village. The only other real industry is tourism. My mom worked a hamburger stand in the spring, summer, and fall. My dad was a barber in his younger years but then became a truck driver. I grew up playing in hills, forests, and apple orchards. I even had a pony! I had friends but you had to walk a long way to get to them. I spent a lot of time with my nose in books or watching 60's/70's sci-fi on television. My mainstays were Star Trek, Space 1999, Lost In Space and the amazing Candian production called The Starlost. I do admit though, even at my tender age of eight, I was crushing Gay Rowan in a bad way.

As a child in this setting, with lots of time on my own, I spent a lot of time in my head. I would take the stories I read and saw on the two TV channels we had, then create new episodes in my own mind. As an adult, now fully involved in creating science-fiction, I draw on that ability to create rich and vibrant stories in my head. Learning to get those onto paper has been a challenge, but it has been a fun challenge.

While the setting of my youth was idyllic in its​ own way, it wasn't without it's downsides. My family dealt with money struggles, depression, and alcoholism. Quite often, the little boy that I was had only his inner fantasy world to escape to, to survive the moments that were too difficult to deal with.

The greatest joy of writing is the experience of creating the worlds, characters, settings, and the intrigue. I work these around so much in my mind that it's like having my own personalized, ongoing, sci-fi saga: in my own head. I also like the escapism of the writing process. I can sit at the keyboard and set the world aside for a little while. I can set the concerns and problems aside outside my office door, then not worry about them until I'm done writing.

I do have to admit though, the honest praise of the first person that bought my sci-fii novel was, awesome!

My desk is cherry wood, with two drawers, and an army of fallen Tim Hortons cups. It needs to be dusted (scrubbed).There are too many small pieces of paper laying on it. I think there are cobwebs behind my monitor, but I'm afraid to look. I have a large dry-erase board in front of me, on the wall, behind the monitor. I have a set of shelves beside the desk that, well, I forget what they really look like there is so much stuff on them. My chair is fifteen years old, I really need a new one, but I'm too cheap to go buy one. Until this one actually falls apart, which it has been threatening to, off and on, then I'll just keep using it. It fits my butt perfectly :-)

Honestly? I pants-it. I have the story in my head, the basics. Then I sit down and start writing. I watch the story grow and evolve. Quite often, the story goes in directions and places I hadn't planned. The end product rarely ever matches my original concept. However, it's always better than my original concept. At some point in the process, I have to set aside time to start making serious notes about the characters, locations, and sub-plots. That, however, is secondary to the writing itself.

With my second sci-fi novel, I wrote out a detailed list, chapter by chapter, of how things were going to go. By the time I had finished chapter four, that original plan was rapidly being replaced by a new one. There is something about the creative process that brings out so much more AS I'm writing, rather than before I write. I've learned not to overthink it. I just roll with it now, it works great!

My latest book is "The Umite Imperative". This is a back story for the quintessential Men in Black (MIB). It explores the culture of the world they come from through the story of Sepherin Tekin, a young woman that the MIB send to Earth on a mission. Unfortunately, as she is travelling to Earth she finds out she is pregnant. Then through some bizarre twists when she arrives, the MIB wind up hunting her down to kill her. When they find her, the baby changes everything because the MIB realise the child is very -- special.

I'm working on my fifth book, the first in a trilogy. It is about a serial killer on a city-sized space station that wraps around Kerberos, a moon of Pluto. It is her story (the serial killer), and she is a character for whom the reader will have both pathos and enmity. Again, a kick-ass, strong female lead. This book is called, "A Killer Born" and will be part of "The Kerberos Killer" series.

I think the frist motivation to become and an indie author is how hard it is to get picked up by a traditional publisher. However, once you make the decision to go indie, you start to see a whole new world open up to you. You find that you can earn higher royalties, have more creative freedom, and have more control over you work. The thought of signing away the rights to my own work was something that I had a very difficult time with. As a self-published author, this isn't something I need to worry about (unless I get a movie deal, then I'll happily worry about it :-)

It was a teen-angst driven, schlocky, amateur attempt. It was about a nobody who had to man-up when his secret crush was taken hostage by local thugs. I remember throwing it in the trash, thinking how bad it was. However, given how popular that stuff is, I should have maybe pursued​ it!