I started taking writing seriously in 2008, made my first sale the next year, and haven’t looked back. But it still feels strange whenever I see my work in print. Those words seem to have been spoken by another person, from another time. My writing advice: be patient, develop a thick skin, keep submitting your work, support other authors—and write like hell. The surest path to failure is to give up. Some of my favorite books: The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan 2001: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke Dune by Frank Herbert The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Ubik by Philip K. Dick Dracula by Bram Stoker The Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler Solaris by Stanislaw Lem The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer The Aztec Treasure House by Evan S. Connell I Am Legend by Richard Matheson I love music, with interests that span practically every genre—from classical, electronica, rock, jazz, hip hop, and international. Each month I read National Geographic and Astronomy Magazine (all of my subscriptions are digital). I regularly buy/stream courses from the Teaching Company & Wondrium, with subjects ranging from astrophysics, the history of human language, and wine. I read comics in the vein of titles like Saga, The Wicked + The Divine, and Black Science (again, all digital). I watch Star Wars, Star Trek, Better Call Saul, The Boys, and Cowboy Bebop. I enjoy video games such as The Elder Scrolls Online, Destiny 2, the Borderlands series, and Horizon Zero Dawn. I play Dungeons & Dragons with my son and other friends. There are good stories to be found in every medium. ​And I read both physical books and ebooks. Enjoy the best of the old and new, I say.