I started writing seriously my sophmore year of high school.  The first piece I remember writing was a simple school assignment my freshman year:  Write a dialogue between 2 or more characters; One page in length.  I began to dabble.  Then, I had a wonderful English teacher who prompted me to hone my writing skills after I turned in a poem.  The teacher was both amazed and a little scared (calling the poem disturbing).  She really pushed me.

I continued to write throughout high school.  My senior year, I took Creative Writing and actually tried my hardest to get another 'disturbing' comment on an assignment.  I never got it, but I did get the beginning of my first novel:  The Wrong Path (a working title).  It's not finished; I put it aside when I got stuck so that it could collect a little dust.  I'm currently working on it and the second novel in what I hope to be the trilogy.

Major Influences:

That's really hard.  As a kid, I would read any book I get my grubby little mitts on.  Everything from Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys to something about invisible underwear.  As I grew older I discovered J.R.R. Tolkien, T.H. White, H.G. Wells (seems I have a thing for initials...), Piers Anthony, Isaac Asimov and many others.  My influences come from all over the spectrum.

A major influence on the early worlds I created wasTolkien.  As my reading expanded, so did my worlds.  Tolkien, Wells and Piers Anthony all influence the worlds I create now.  Mythology has also had a major influence on my worlds, my characters and my stories.

Why do I write? 

Many people have asked me this.  For them, I have only one answer:  Why not?

Writing is what I know; it's what I love.  I'm very passionate about my writing.  I don't know if others feel that I'm talented, but I don't care.  I don't write for someone else; I write for me.  I would love for others to enjoy my writing as much as I do, but I won't be heart-broken if that's not the case.