What are your biggest inspirations?

[Neo Emolga]

It's funny, dreams are a major source of inspiration for me, also. And I've had all kinds of very vivid dreams. Movies and music are also a big one. If I watch a really great movie, it definitely inspires me to think along those lines and get the creativity juices flowing. Certain songs also have a rhythm or melody to them that might trigger a feeling or emotion that suddenly remind you of a moment in your story that the song feels like it could really fit into if it were a movie.

Reading other books helps in a different way, because I see the way authors do things with published books and it defines what is possible to do in a book. There are times when I think "eh, if I do this in my manuscript, chances are good it might be scrapped or it would have to be taken out" when it comes time to getting published, but if I see it happening in a book that's already published, it tells me it's perfectly fine (one example is mentioning brand name products in fiction).