Mostly by word of mouth. Half of them are books I've owned paperback copies of and have had to get rid of for various reasons (and books by authors I already read) while the others are books that have been recommended to me by friends and family. There's the odd one that I've found just by poking around on the internet that seems interesting.

The earliest story I can remember writing was about a group of butterfly people. I may or may not revisit it at some point as it wasn't a terrible concept, just very poorly written.

I sit down at my computer (or netbook), put on some music, pick my project, and write.

The first story that really had an impact on me wasn't the first thing I remember reading. I picked up a copy of 'Dragonflight' by Anne McCaffrey in junior high and was literally floored as it was the first time I'd ever seen dragons written as good characters as opposed to evil ones.

I try to showcase the primary character of the book in question or something deeply important to the story itself. I don't like showing character faces, but in some cases, like the 'Children of An'katerr' series it can't be helped as there's a webcomic associated with them and their faces are well known to anyone familiar with the story.

I'm not fond of this question because I don't have individual favourite books, I have favourite trilogies. In no particular order...

The Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey
-As I mentioned earlier, this was the first time I'd ever seen dragons written as good and not evil. This series was what eventually set me down the road to writing my Keverynn trilogy.

The Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey
-There's something about Lackey's writing that I find very compelling and I read this series so many times growing up.

Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn
-The characters in this series are just so vivid and alive to me.

The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth
-This series got me through a particularly rough patch in my life and I will always enjoy reading it.

The Shannara Series by Terry Brooks
-Even though it's been more years that I really want to admit since I've read these books, I remember checking them out of my local library as a teen and ripping through them and their sequels, completely immersed in the world Brooks created.

I read what I write and that's primarily fantasy, though I do toss in a bit of sci-fi for seasoning once in a while.

My trusty iPhone 6. It goes everywhere with me and fits in my pocket. If I have a couple minutes to read while I'm waiting to pick my kids up from school or dance, I can just whip it out and read a few pages.

I'm still finding something that will work, but Facebook seems to be doing the best job so far.

Utter chaos. No, seriously. When I'm not trying to use my sewing machine, it's usually covered in papers or a variety or cross stitch projects. If I'm really busy, both.

I grew up on an air force base just north of Edmonton, Alberta. As such, I'l all too familiar with what small towns are like and I write a lot of those. I was also able to get to libraries and book stores on a fairly regular basis and was able to read about a lot of different things, an opportunity I wouldn't have had had we lived in a more remote area.