My biggest influences have been Ursula Leguin and David Brin, because they are masters at drawing many loosely connected stories out of a consistent universe. And Brin is a master of creating aliens—both sympathetic and nasty.
Just in case you are interested in what I do that pays the rent, here are my business website and blog.
My wife B.J. is also a writer, and she also works with me in my consulting company. Good thing we get along well! She’s writing about a romance between the ghost of a French woman and a 19th century English barrister. But she’ll have to tell her own story.
We live in Marin County north of San Francisco in a house surrounded by trees and vegetable gardens. We have two daughters and three grandkids.
I have an MBA from UCLA that has nothing to do with writing science fiction. Most of my career I’ve run small consulting firms. I’ve also started a restaurant, fixed up old apartment buildings, and run an export management firm. One thing I’ve never done is work for a large corporation.
Writing science fiction is by far the most fun!