I suppose generally we're suppossed to write these things in third person so it sounds like, perhaps, someone else wrote it and we, ourselves, are not patting ourselves on the back.  But I dislike coming of pretentious more than I do sounding vain, so we'll go ahead and do this in the first person. I started writing when I was in my teens, but I was always a story teller.  I would lay awake and night-dream all sorts of fantastic little adventures for myself.  Eventually i realized that perhaps other people would like them too, that I could probably write (since I havn't been blessed with an enourmous amount of other skills...my memory is shot, and don't even think to ask me to add without a calculator...) them down fairly well.  I was right...people like my written down tales, and I am told that i'm a really good writer.  I better be.  it's about the only thing I'm good for.  Well, I'm a pretty good secretary, too.  And hopefully you realize that while i'm taking the idea of introducing myself to you seriously, I'm also being a tad silly.  :)    My influences include Neil Gaiman, Barbara Hambly, Terry Pratchett, Laura Kinsale, Sue Grafton, Tony Hillerman, Agatha Christie, Shakespeare (no, I'm not being pretentious, he puts words together so pretty!), Jennifer Roberson, Chuck Palanuick,  Charles de Lint, and really everyone I've ever read because you learn from everything.