A story can develop in one day or over twenty years. The first version of The Wolf That Follows was written in the winter of 1998-1999. Written by hand in a spiral notebook by kerosene lantern, it was intended as a story for those who wanted to know what it was like to live in the wild. The story sat up in a cache in the trees for years, then traveled around Alaska here and there until last year when I reviewed that first version and updated it. A story might remain in my head for a year or two as I piece it together, change or alter the sequence and add or subtract characters.
Being an INTJ personality I don't use the usual methods. Editing is the majority of time spent writing. A story might be edited over thirty times before I can " let it go."

As a child I read books like other kids ate candy. The first story that I could relate to and had a profound influence would have been Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe. As an extreme introvert INTJ I could relate to the main character Eugene Gant and to Wolfe himself. Not only was it unusual to encounter a book about such an introverted boy, his difficulties in getting along in the extrovert loving world but amazing that such a book could become so popular in the extrovert dominated world.

I have an image in my mind that would represent a general sense of the story and relentlessly pursue reproducing that image. If it takes five hundred pictures, waiting for the right light, fingers freezing in 45 below temperatures, and a good deal of shovelling of snow to capture what I want I will not stop until I have the "one." Balancing the image with the text is more like a visit to the dentist.

Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe. The books main character and his struggles were similar to my own.
The White Goddess by Robert Graves. Two interests I've had since a child were the development of religion and poetry. The White Goddess is the poets approach to interpreting ancient myth. Most historians disregard what they consider non-factual evidence, but since the ancient order of priests were poets, their religious texts would naturally be poetical works that would require a poet to interpret them.
Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer. Norman Mailer wrote extraordinary books. Ancient Evenings intermixes history and the religion of ancient Egypt. Mailer was not afraid to write what he wanted, even when it pushed the usual bounds.
The Collected Poems of William Butler Yeats. When I headed out into remote Alaska for an indeterminate time I traveled in an 18 foot canoe. Space was very limited. I took two books, one being the Collected Works of Yeats. Halfway through the winter I had the entire book memorized. Today I have the same book included in my daughters home school curriculum.
The Tao Te Ching. Lao Tzu's writing is simple and reflective. Like good poetry one can learn more by reading it over and over. Taoism seems the only " modern" religion that teaches how to live in this world versus an escapism.
The Idiot by Dostoevsky. Preferring books that are original, this is one of the most original books in history.

Books on religion, particularly ancient religions, such as The Golden Bough. Any book by Robert Graves. Malcolm Gladwell. Books on the history of science. Older poetry, before they started writing chopped prose and calling it poetry. Old obscure books which give a first hand account of what we now consider history.

An " old" Iphone 5.

An antique table seven feet long made of 200 year old English elm planks, complete with wormholes, cupping and builder's bog. "Covered in shite," as my wife would say. I have to periodically and ferociously defend my space when she takes a mind to cleaning it.

My hometown was a small town in the southern Sierra Nevada mountains of California. A place where no one had to lock their homes or vehicles, kids played in the street and were not allowed in the house till dinner time and the small town politics ran rife. Everyone knew everyone. As a teenager, on a Friday evening, I could announce to my father I'd be back Sunday. I could spend all weekend roaming the mountains with my dog, a stick( to sweep for snakes after dark), and a pack of crackers. Various stories reflect events from that place and the time I spend there as a child. The small towns of Alaska are very similar to my hometown, and relating their "flavor" in story, naturally develops in many of the stories I've written.

Like when I started reading, I cannot recall when I started writing. When I was a freshman in high school the new English teacher, on the first day, asked the students to write a story about any subject they chose. The next day he threw the story on my desk and asked me what I was doing in English 9. From that day, and for the next two years, I was in one of his classes writing " independently" on various subjects.

The story is about five young men who seek to "conquer" Alaska. There are innumerable young people who come to Alaska seeking adventure and/or the "big bucks." Most fail to see either one. Having read most every book written on Alaska, there are few that accurately portray what it's like to come to Alaska to find work or adventure. Many of the books written on life in the wild leave out the details, such as the fact that living out in the extreme environment drains one's energy as nothing else will. Often people refuse to believe that living in the wild is anything but what they've read in adventure stories( written by those who never have) or magazines. As a young firefighter said last summer, "nature is a mean bitch." Life in the remote country of Alaska is not the usual camping trip.
There are some great stories out there, told by people who aren't seeking acclaim. Stories such as the one about a man who was dropped off in the hills by a river who lived for twenty years in the roughest country and then shot himself one winter. No one knows why he wanted to live in the wild, or how he managed to survive for so long with so little, and then suddenly committed suicide. Into the Wild was just one story, there are many others not told thus far.

From early childhood I decided to go live out in the wild, a strange goal, but that's what one gets for being an extreme introvert. My philosophy was to seek adventure and do what I could while I was young and able. I could save such things as earning money as a writer for later when I was "old." Now, being "old," and having been self employed for eight years and then working a "regular job" again, I realize that working for others is not something I want to engage in anymore. The world always changes, and I've seen how the "workplace" has changed and would rather "opt" out. Self employment by writing and other forms seems the appropriate course to take at this time.
Advances in publishing such as Smashwords has made publishing so much easier, how can one not take advantage of the changes.

I first downloaded the first episode of the Smashwords podcast, liked what I heard and kept listening. Since I had several books I was working on, I considered it an option. The more I learn about Smashwords and it's creator the more I like it.