Hearing from readers! There's nothing I enjoy more than getting an email from a reader complimenting me on my work. I appreciate it when they take the time to reach out and really enjoy listening to their feedback. Building these relationships is my favorite thing about writing I didn't expect before I started.

Everything! Writing for yourself is boring. I've gotten to know many of my readers through email and Facebook and I really cherish the relationships.

Working my day job in IT, taking my dog for a walk, dreaming about cars, watching shows about cars, and playing games involving cars. I like to tinker around the house and yard with various projects and spend time with my family, of course.

Through word of mouth and recommendation engines on websites such as Amazon and Goodreads. Once and a while I'll browse through the list of freebies and discover news authors that way.

Whatever I like. Lame answer, right? Not to be a blowhard, but I'm pretty hard to please. If a book doesn't grab me within the first few pages I chuck it and move on. Way too many books out there to waste time on the bad ones! I mostly stick to thrillers, horror, and sci-fi. I enjoy a good non-fiction book about subjects I find interesting as well. I love history.

I have a Kindle Fire HD 7" and and 4th gen (I think??) Kindle. The one that used to sell for 80 bucks. I use them both quite often. The Fire is great for magazines and non-book tablet activities but I often prefer to read on my old Kindle. It's much lighter and the battery life is awesome. Plus I can use it in the tub and not worry too much about dropping it in the water or spilling beer all over it since it's a few years old and worth practically nothing.

I started writing in the 90's before self-publishing got so darn easy and the Internet still had training wheels. After sending out paper manuscripts and receiving one too many rejection letters, I gave up for a while. One day it occurred to me I might want to get in on this self-publishing and ebook scene and haven't looked back since.

I love a good challenge. I had a couple manuscripts pretty much ready from the old days that I dusted off and self published through Amazon's KDP program a few years ago. Once they started selling and the reviews trickled in I was hooked. I've been pushing hard ever since and it feels great to have a passion for something. I love it.

I have a background in illustration and graphic design so I've designed all my covers myself. I'm pretty happy with most of them but I plan on starting to use professional covers if I can afford it and I find ones that speak to me. People really DO judge books by the cover. It's very important to have the best cover possible.

Always, always, always responding to readers. Facebook, Bookbub, and my own website.

My goal for 2014 is at least three books. I'm not continuing the Desolate series but I am planning a story based in that world. I want to tell the story of Carl and what he did to get sent to the farm.