Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in a very small town in North Texas. The greatest influence it has had on my writing the underlying tones of being an outsider. When you would rather study the history of warfare in the 20th century and the evolution of military technology then raise a cow or play football, you don't really fit in small town Texas life.
What do you read for pleasure?
That really depends on what I am in the mood for at any particular time. I am a big fan of Tom Clancy's work and other books of that nature; however, I also enjoy reading the classics like David Copperfield and Crime and Punishment. Lately I have been reading a lot of cerebral non-fiction. I just read Freakonomics, Superfreakonomics, and Think Like a Freak, by Levitt and Dubner.
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