I was born a voracious reader. I credit my father for reading bedtime stories to me and that purplish two-headed monster from Sesame Street for helping me to put sounds together to create words. By 2nd grade I was reading dictionaries and junior high level books. I loved the fact that by reading a book you could go to another world for free. That appealed to me because I along with my love of reading I have a highly nurtured streak of wanderlust in me. Maybe it's the Danish Viking blood in me (I am a Hansen). Come to think of it that would probably explain my high tolerance for cold.

I have always been drawn to the science fiction and fantasy genres.

Science fiction because I was heavily influenced by my older brothers were always watching Star Trek TOS, Dr. Who, Blake 7 and Star Wars. It helped that my oldest brother was blond and my second oldest brother was taller and had dark hair so they always sort of reminded me of Kirk and Spock. Today I love the original Star Wars, Babylon 5, Star Trek TOS & TNG, the original Battlestar Galactica, Dr.Who, Red Dwarf, and the original V miniseries.

Finally I love fantasy because I have always had a big imagination. I can imagine that when you turn your back, Dragonflies turn into little dragons, Butterflies turn into fairies, and Bumblebees turn into little winged horses. I love dragons. My favorite Animated Disney movie is Sleeping Beauty. Mostly because of the knights, the castle, and the dragon. My first real fantasy novel was David Eddings The Diamond Throne. I think it was my oldest sisters book but I saw the cover, picked it up and kind of stolled it. Even though I was only in 3rd grade I love the book. Sure I have noticed certain contradictions between the two series but I have sort of rewritten parts of it in my head so as to fit the two series together in a more cohesive way. I now read the Elenium and the Tamuli series a couple of times a year. I also read Lord of the Rings once a year. I love Tolkens descriptive writing and how he gives voice to the natural world, trees for instance. Recently I been reading The Song of Fire and Ice series. To me it is a grittier and most likely truer to the dark reality of what the middle ages really were like.

The story I am writing has been trapped in my head for a while and its been driving me nuts. David Eddings left a big chunk of story untold in the Elenium Series. The following adventure tells the heretofore unknown story of the birth, childhood, novitiate, and rise of the one the Styrics would name Anakha.