My favorite authors are L.J. Smith, R.L. Stine and Stephen King.

R.L Stine's Fear Street books. I love his writing style and how it makes you really think about the situation and how it keeps you guessing and on your toes the entire read.

L.J. Smith's The Secret Circle, Forbidden Game and the original Vampire Diaries books. I love the characters in these three series. They are very relatable. I can really put myself into their shoes and feel what they are feeling and share the experience as I am reading.

I love reading anything that has twist endings, keeps me guessing and thinking the entire read.

I grew up in Warsaw Indiana. Warsaw is a small town with lots of lakes around it. There's plenty of places to retreat and just sit in nature and think. It also has a lot of older buildings that have been around for a long time. All of these were great influences in my writing and I often use a lot of things from my childhood and my hometown to represent the town my characters live in. One of the biggest influences was a small campground that my grandparents, Rodger and Mary Phillips used to own. I spent a lot of time there and when writing about a wooded scene or forest, I often think of the places I used to "hide out" in at the campground. I also think of the lake the campground was next to when writing about lakes in my stories.

I first started writing in the 3rd grade. I loved to come up with stories to tell my friends and eventually ended up writing them down so I could re tell them later to new friends.

The first story I ever wrote was in 3rd grade. I had just finished reading the Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. I loved it and the characters so much that I wanted to imitate it and make a story of my own. It wasn't very good, but I still have a copy of it and enjoy reading it on occasion.

I always write. Even if it's just a sentence or two a day. Or just an idea. I'm always writing things down and I try to get out and just observe the comings and goings of everyday life. Just watching animals, people, insects even...I just watch how they act and respond and write things down that I may have never noticed before.

The greatest joy of writing for me, is the fact that I know I am entertaining someone. Knowing that if in any little way I can bring a smile to someone's face or even influenced them to start writing their own stories, it makes me very happy. If I can bring joy and excitement to someone reading my works, then I have accomplished what I set out to do.