My stories are influenced by almost everything I think is interesting. Which is most things. I read about one book a week, watch too much anime, maintain both professional and amateur interests in ...view moreMy stories are influenced by almost everything I think is interesting. Which is most things. I read about one book a week, watch too much anime, maintain both professional and amateur interests in the sciences. My science fiction (of which I've released extremely little due to my hard science perfectionism in that camp) is heavily influence by my bill-paying career. (Spoiler, most of us have day jobs).
I direct a research and development group. We study and implement everything from webcams to augmented reality. When does one find the time to write books? Without the support of my wife and children, there would be no time. But they know crafting stories is as much a part of me as my piano fingers, so their tolerance is much appreciated.
My choice of writing genre certainly has a backstory. I'm a huge fan of strong heroines. I studied the works of the great Joss Whedon (in real time, before there was stream binging) and haven't ever been able to escape the shadow of Buffy the Vampire Slayer - not that I'd want to. Add this predilection to the fact that some of my favorite heroines have come from Young Adult stories, and it was inevitable that I would find myself writing YA urban fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction stories.
YA tends to be emotionally driven and include a lot of discovery and change, and I find this happens within smaller boundaries than in popular adult fiction, which makes high context clues and nuances more natural to write. In short? I'm a sucker for a good romance. But to be fair, anyone that says they don't love love is either a liar or a sociopath.
But you can't be a good writer (maybe just okay, in my case - you be the judge) without being a good reader first... I lean into fantasy and science fiction, mysteries, young adult romances (even if they're not very good), and anything by Bill Bryson. My favorite books include: Ender's Game, The Dragonlance Chronicles, Against the Fall of Night, The Chronocar, November Tales, The Wheel of Time novels, The Gentleman Bastards novels, the Sprawl Trilogy, The Night Circus, To All the Boys I've Love Before, Attachments, The Dream Engine, The Kingkiller Chronicles, Eleanor and Park, The Dragon Prince novels, The Square Root of Summer, Kill the Boy Band, Snow Crash, and The Gods Themselves.view less