The greatest joy comes after fans have read what I've written. It's the reactions I get in the emails and messages I receive, and even in their eyes when I they come up to me in person. To know the stories I've written have moved others in even the smallest of ways is the most humbling and gratifying of experiences.

My fans are the one ones who keep me alive. Their fidelity to me at the bookstore not only makes it possible for me to keep writing, they are the only ones who appreciate and find meaning in the oddities that pop from my head to the page.

Hmmmmm, good question. I have two other novelettes on the back burner that follow the same Burtonesque/Dr. Seuss format as The Tale of Nottingswood, but the next project may just be the novelization of a Broadway scale musical I've written, workshopped, and is about 90% complete. With an extensive background in musical theatre, it may be advantageous to write the novel to build the platform for the musical production.

If I'm going to read a book, the author's storytelling has to grab my attention immediately for me to keep reading. (My library is full of unfinished books.) So far, the only authors who have been able to do that for me are Orson Scott Card, Dickens, and Ayn Rand.

Right now? Providing for my family.

I don't think it's where you grow up, but how you grow up that influences you. Writers will use settings from their childhood, or where they currently live, to connect themselves and their fans. It's an easy way to create environment and context for their book. But whether it's the ghetto or Martha's Vinyard, it's how you grew up in those locations, in those cultures, etc, that influence your writing. Your experiences are the foundation for your story; your imagination takes it from there.

The first story I ever wrote was titled "Froggy Found A Friend." I was in 3rd grade(?) and it was about an amphibian named Froggy--who looked nothing like a frog--who found a friend in a boy named Freddy. In class we wrote, illustrated and even bound the books. To go along with the project, we made a clay sculpture of our main character. My mom still has Froggy on display with all her other nick-knacks.

Lately, my writing pours out very stream-of-consciousness. I write down what comes to my mind, no matter how weird it comes out at first. The story develops as I am writing. Often times, I don't know how it's even going to end, and when the ending reveals itself, it just as impactful on me as it will be for the reader. Yes, I cry at my own stories... perhaps it's because I don't consider them mine.

OSC's Ender's Game was the first story I read that actually had an impact on me. I grew up loving the Beverly Cleary books like Mouse And the Motorcycle. They were fun. But Ender's Game hit me on an emotional level that showed me how much impact one book can have on an individual.

Kindle.

What desk? If you can find it, please let me know.

Honey-do lists; playing with the kids; watching Shark Tank on YouTube with a back of pretzel chips and a bowl of mustard.