Frederick Pohl, Larry Niven, Hal Colbatch, Andre Norton, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, H.G. Wells

Anything and everything. Television, movies, musical lyrics, random words that pop into my head (interesting name for character, place, or object most of the time). All around me there is a world filled with the creations of talented people who built on the creativity of those who came before them. I just try to leave my own mark on that process.

I am an avid photographer (both hobby and professional) and am also a filmmaker. I also enjoy using computer technology (3d applications) to bring to life many of the people and technologies from my books. I also have a very supportive and loving wife and a beautiful young daughter to spend time with.

I often do my writing in coffee shops but also peruse book stores fairly often. Normally if something catches my eye (sorry to say it's usually the cover art) I snap a photo of it with my cell phone and look it up later when I am at home.

I'm afraid that I don't simply because I've written so many. I have dozens of journals, sticky notes, and text files filled to the brim with not only short stories but also story ideas, character name, place names, technology ideas, world outlines, and countless other random information.

It depends on the project. Some start out more traditional. I make a vague outline and thin start filling in the blanks. More often than not, however, it happens by me simply sitting down and starting. I like to work using FocusWriter (free software, just Google it) because it allows me to work distraction-free and I frequently start a project with simply a single scene or idea and then just start writing around it like how an oyster makes a pearl from a grain of sand.

I do not possess the proverbial "memory of an elephant" so no I do not remember the earliest things that I read. I do, however, remember that some of the first science fiction works that I read were by H.G. Wells and I have always liked his writings. By today's standards, where 900 page epics with 7 sequels are quite common, his books would barely be considered novellas but something about simply telling a story without having to weave in five or six sub-plots really appealed to me and still does to this day.

The vast majority of the time I think of one of the most interesting scenes in the book and base the cover on that. I do all of my own covers using a mixture of photography, photoshop, and CGI elements. I'll often go through several versions before I end up settling on one design. Cover design is one of my favorite parts of writing yet at the same time I find it can be quite exhausting. It seems as though I've never happy with it.

The World at the End of Time by Frederick Pohl - What is there not to like about a story that involves powerful creatures that live inside of stars, colonists cut off from Earth and struggling to survive, and all on time scale that literally stretches to the end of time. I literally read this book from cover to cover without stopping. 17 hours.

Cities in Flight by James Blish - Human cities pulling up their roots and setting out for the stars. Covers a huge scale of time and is immensely interesting.

The Man-Kzin Wars - Really grasps the logistics of slower-than-light warfare on a large scale

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert O'Brien - Probably the best childrens' book ever written. It is so utterly engrossing that were I to read it again, as an adult, I'd likely read it cover-to-cover without stopping.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle - I love how Doyle can write such a complex mystery and genuinely leave you guessing as to the solution but yet does it in a fashion that is straight-to-the-point. No overly complex sub-plots, just a good story.

Just about anything set in deep space. I'm not a fan of science fiction that solely takes place on Earth, especially in dystopian futures, etc... I like books that really make me think about the realities of long-distance space travel.

Nook HD+, but I do also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 4, several phones, and a Nook e-ink device. For long reading sessions I prefer the e-ink but just to read for a few minutes to an hour I probably prefer the Nook HD+.