How long have you been writing/drawing?

 

According to my parents, I was first drawing at eighteen months old, before I was actually able to write my own name.  My earliest works were largely "whales", "cats", an other miscellaneous scribbles, but my parents always encouraged my artwork no matter what form or level of interpretation required.

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I remember writing stories before I had actually mastered handwriting.  I used to fill journals upon journals with illegible scribbles, but I would recite the tales I'd documented within them perfectly each time.  I wrote my first novella at the age of twelve, a five-part epic that eventually became the building blocks for what would eventually be known as A Clockwork Melody.

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What inspires you to create?  Where do you draw inspiration from?

 

As a long-time nightmare sufferer, I've found I draw my best inspiration for stories from my dreams.  Contagion, another of my WIP-tales, took place in a single night, and when I woke up the next day I knew that I had to bring the story to life.

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Music has always been a deeply emotional aspect of my life, and one of the strongest sensory experiences I draw inspiration from.  Movie and video game soundtracks especially are some of my favourites to write to; "Spirit of the Universe" from The Matrix: Revolutions made me cry as a child and is a wonderful song to write a bittersweet ending to.

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Who would you consider to be your most influential artists, writers, etc.?

 

Asher Dumonchelle was (and in many ways, still is) one of the most influential artists I encountered as a child.  Their art style inspired me and greatly shapes how I structured facial drawings to this day.

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J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis were two of my favourite authors growing up, and I only grew to love them more when I got older and learned of their friendship behind their writings.  Learning that they each had their qualms with one another's works helped me to not take my friends' critiques too seriously, something I struggled with in my youth.

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What are your favourite books?

 

I adored Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, Lord of the Rings, and The Mortal Instruments growing up.  I remember clearly to this day how I would not put them down once I'd started them - in fact, I distinctly recall falling asleep on top of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and continuing from where I'd left off the moment I woke up.

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Grimm's fairy tales were also a fundamental part of my childhood, but it was Anderson's The Little Mermaid that stuck with me the most.

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What tools do you use?

 

When I'm writing, all I use is Microsoft Word ever since Windows 97!  Let me tell you, I'm very grateful for how the program has evolved to be more user-friendly.  I'm trying to get into using OneNote to plan out my stories in a more organized fashion.

 

For artwork, I'm a long-time fan of Adobe Photoshop.  I've tried SAI and CorelDraw, but nothing else really works for me.  I have used Wacom graphics tablets in the past, but I greatly prefer the Huion I'm currently using.

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