I have several years in both civil and criminal law, owned my own business and worked for a state transportation department. I've written a weekly column for a small newspaper and I was an editor for an online newsletter. Along with two other authors, I helped start a writers group locally, although now I've had to move on due to time constraints. I'm sure this all sounds a little boring, but life is what you make of it, and I've enjoyed each and every part of my life. Well, maybe not every part, but most of it. What motivates my writing is the idea of entertaining readers. I enjoy anything with humor in it because we sometimes have to laugh at life, and a humorous book helps me cope. If my books give a reader a brief respite from the daily dramas of life, then I've done my job. I can't say there's any one major influence on my writing. It's an accumulation of many authors and books. I do enjoy a story with characters who seem real, like people I might actually know or want to know. Therefore, I try to keep my characters in line with reality (to some extent).