As far as the writing goes, I started telling stories as soon as I could talk, and started writing them down as soon as I could string words together.

Mama took me in her arms and held me tight. Her embrace was hot and she smelled like sweat, dust, and grease, but I wanted her. I wanted to crawl inside her mind to find that place that let her smile and sing through the worst dust storms. If I had to be crazy, I wanted my mama's kind of crazy, because she was never afraid.

If I get blocked, it is generally because I don't know enough about some aspect of the story or the characters. The answer for this is generally more research, or making more background notes, so the place and person can be more fully realized inside my own mind.

As far as the writing goes, I started telling stories as soon as I could talk, and started writing them down as soon as I could string words together.

Fantasy is, of course, booming, and I think it's beginning to stretch its range as well.

All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there.

I have a better internal and intuitive understanding of folklore and myth than science and technology, so in that way fantasy is easier.