My reading and writing generally avoid too much realism - the real world has more than enough of that for me. I draw a lot of inspiration from fairy stories. The kind where the abandoned kids find their way home, feed their abusive step-parents to a bear, then discover that trying to live in the enchanted (ogre-filled, witch-haunted) forest alone when you're nine years old is a really bad idea. I also like consequences. My favourite theme in writing is 'the price of power' or 'how much are you willing to give up to get what you want?' If you look carefully, you'll be able to spot that in everything I write. Even limericks.