I am drawn to series of books (like Cherryh’s Foreigner sets of trilogies or Brooks’ works, particularly the Void and the Word series) that span places and time, but that feature strong, fascinating characters – characters you, over the course of the books, view as friends or family (or even enemies); people whom you have grown to know very well – maybe even sometimes better than yourself. Cherryh and Brooks have greatly influenced my writing, particularly with respect to mapping out complex story arcs and creating well-developed characters. On the surface, my work could be considered as fantasy, but the fantasy elements (for example, the “magic” and how the “wizards” wield it) are explained by science (biology, physiology, physics, mineralogy) and cultural/language differences. Throw in interplanetary travel, alien races, exploration and exploitation, genetic manipulation, and the threat of galaxy-wide war, and the work is decidedly science fiction.