I've been heavily influenced by satirists and humor writers, including Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and David Sedaris.  I also have been influenced by crime writers such as Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and Jim Thompson, for their dark, fatalistic, and nonjudgmental view of life.  Finally, yoga has helped me to treat my characters with a certain degree of compassion.

1994 Sword of Hope Award from the American Cancer Society.