Starting with my military service, I have had a life-long love affair with travel.  Nothing changes and affects your perspective and life-view more than immersion into the peoples and cultures of the places you visit.  Despite our varying ethnicities, religions, and experiences, we are not all that different.  This is one of the reasons that literature, especially works with universal themes, cross cultural divides and promote our shared humanity and understanding. I have had a lifetime of experiences and adventures to draw upon in my current endeavors to write fiction.  One of the most satisfying aspects of writing is the freedom to define and bring worlds and characters to life.  Some characters have been composites of the people I have known in my life, and some, totally original creations birthed entirely in my imagination. Few vocations, offer that kind of freedom as an outlet for my creative energies. People have always been drawn to the story-tellers.  It is how we communicate our history, our shared perceptions, new ideas and ways of thinking, or, just plain entertain one another.  It is at the core of what makes us human.  Even if we can't personally travel the world, have perilous adventures, walk with Kings and Knights, or rocket through outer space, we can do all these, and more, through a book.  Anything one can imagine, can become reality on the page.  That kind of power can be pretty intoxicating and enticing, not to mention, a lot of fun!