I don't think there is any one thing that I can point to yet. I think it's a combination of having your name in as many places as possible and writing good books.

Ha. Well, I am fairly organized. It's an rounded "L" shaped desk. On the shorter side is my monitor and business cards as well as a few scratch pads. On the larger side are writer magazines, photography magazines, my back scratcher, bills and my tablet.

I grew up outside of Trenton, NJ and my entire first book is heavily influenced by that area. My second is somewhat influenced from people I knew in college from the Philadelphia area. I think my humor and sarcasm comes from people I knew while growing up. In later books, I think I have become more influenced by people I've met in writers groups as well as reading other authors.

There was the occasional article I would have to write for my real estate career but I didn't get serious about writing until 2011 when someone bet me I couldn't write a best seller. I have to admit, I was never one who always dreamed of writing the next great novel. Even as I was finishing up creating my first novel did I expect to start a second. Now I don't see myself ever stopping.

My latest is the third in a series about Caeles Novo, who is the preeminent soul stealer on earth. In the first two books, Cale has fought with his leaders as to what their real mission is on earth. He along with others like him not only battle evil on earth, but also fight to maintain a healthy family life. Cale has questioned what his real destiny is on earth over the first two books in the series. However, in the current one, he is moving forward with what he believes is his true calling and is eliminating anyone or anything in his path. He has a few who attempt to stop him at every turn and a wife who is upset because he can't tell her all that he does. Cale struggles to maintain his sanity as well as staying alive as he follows wanted criminals around the world.

In short, being stubborn. If the right opportunity presented itself, I would likely sign with a major publisher. However, since I have a business background, I broke down all the things a traditional publisher would provide me and realized much, if not all, I could do on my own. I have a background in accounting as well as computer graphics and photography. I was already marketing all over the internet because of my commercial real estate business, so it was an easy transition for me to apply that to books. Mind you, I didn't say it's easy to market, its anything but, but I do believe that if you are willing to work hard and read everything you can get your hands on about marketing, eventually it will pay off. So in short, I'm a control freak when it comes to things that are mine and the thought of possibly not even being able to title my own books made me cringe.

It has freed up some of my time because I only have to list my books in few places, Smashwords being one. I would rather put the effort towards writing and marketing in other areas and allows sources like Smashwords distribute my ebooks. One other thing was that before joining Smashwords, I didn't know Kobo existed. I now have a following in Canada thanks for Smashwords distributing to Kobo.

That's an easy one. Having someone contact me and ask me questions about characters because as readers they are that involved with the story and characters. I have one reader who has read my first book, " A Beautiful Song" four times because he swears, the character could be him. I am so humbled when I hear stories like that from readers.

Both of them? I read from many authors about how they write for themselves and never think about their fans. I understand what they mean. I don't change a story because I think my fans or readers would be shocked or object but every time I hear from a fan they read one of my stories and enjoyed it, I get a special feeling inside me that I hope never goes away.

The next paragraph. I'm not who outlines and I never know the last page of the book until I write it. I think too much outlining stops a writer from expanding the story. I realize that's a statement many would disagree with and that's fine, but for me, I have to leave everything open. The disadvantage of that is there are times I get stuck in a story, but usually not for long. I have a general idea of how I want the story to end by about the middle of the book but I am one who allows the characters to drive the story through their words, not mine. For example, in my last book, a character called out a name and because of that, a new character was created who ended up being a major part of the last two books. He never entered my mind until another character mentioned him in his dying words.

Elmore Leonard, George RR Martin, Sidney Sheldon

Attempting to put together commercial real estate deals, reading, listening to music, photography, nature walks and enjoying my family, not in that order.

I prefer paperback or hard cover books. I only read ebooks to learn about marketing my own books.

I generally write in the morning. I edit what I wrote in the morning later in the day. I take sections of that to my writers group. After I finish each chapter it goes to my editor and after 10 chapters are done, it goes to a couple of beta readers. Once the first draft is done, I read it at least twice more and make changes. It's again reviewed and then I make the cover and publish.