"Mostly influenced by life. Special mentions would be: Niven, Lackey, David Weber and random sacks of books borrowed every month from the public library for more than a decade. I believe in writing about what I know. Most of my characters come from my surroundings in different ways. In searching for a character, I first try as hard as I can to not pick a specific person or character for the model. I find elements from life and meld them together carefully, making sure they are unique. A gesture may come from someone in line at the bank. A look from a friend. An anecdote from a teacher. Once a few pieces are in place, the rest of the character usually makes itself known."

BS, Chemical Engineering.