What are your 10 favorite books, and why?

Battle Angel Alita (possibly the perfect book – it’s got just about everything you could really ever ask for)

A Distant Soil (this was my first introduction to non-mainstream fiction and I was blown away by, not only how very good it was, but also by how much more you could do when you stepped beyond the constraints of the mainstream)

Stranger in a Strange Land (this book was so interesting because it’s so full of alternative philosophy and has such a unique look at humanity)

Earth-X (this mind-rape of a book is so powerful because it speaks to and about the direction of human development in a way that’s amazing but also very chilling. I’m very into anything that explores philosophy or belief from an alternative or just a new perspective.)

Anything by Rumiko Takahashi (really, pick it. Ranma ½, Those Obnoxious Aliens, the Mermaid series, she always creates endearing characters and stories that are just simply amazing)

Snow Crash (a wonderful fast-paced novel with a very interesting real-time narrative form. This probably has some of the best action sequences in pop-literature)

Big Trouble (this book is amazingly funny and it weaves together so many seemingly unrelated stories into one giant climatic finale)

The Maxx (this story is about as surreal as you can get. I’ve read and reread it dozens of times and I still don’t know what it’s about, but the characters are amazing and the world it’s set in is just breath-taking)

Sam and Max (For those who haven’t read it, no explanation would be sufficient. For those who have read it, none is necessary)

SCUD: The Disposable Assassin (possibly the greatest of the underground comics, this comic fused pop-culture, mind-numbing action, a hilarious world, and an absolutely amazing hero that you couldn’t help but love)

Who are your favorite writers, and what makes their writing special?

Yukito Kashiro stands out first and foremost because of the Alita series. The world he created and the characters became instantly close to your heart and the entire saga is just the definition of ‘masterful’. Robert Heinlein also stands out because he and his peers brought about the end of the Kill-O-Zap Raygun Era of sci-fi and ushered in real science and real characters.

In general, though, many of my favorite writers are writers for other mediums. I’m a huge fan of Aaron Sorkin and his crew for the West Wing, specifically the dialogue of the show. Everybody over at Studio Gainax will always stand up on such a list, for their phenomenal catalog of work. Probably the single most important writer, though, to me would be Hideaki Anno, the writer of Neon Genesis Evangelion, for writing what I believe to be one of the finest stories ever.

 How has anime and video games affected you and your writing style?

Anime and video games define my writing. In many ways, I see my novels as anime series brought to a literary form. I feel I have to come up with the anime series, and then translate it into a literary work.

Video games play a similar role. While they don’t directly influence my writing as much per say, I do take a constant inspiration from video games for both my stories and my characters, especially franchise games like the Castlevania and Street Fighter series. I look to those games to learn how you can come to care so much about a character that, in reality, you know little about.

What are your favorite words?

‘Par for the course’ is up there. It’s something I hear people say on a daily basis and they usually aren’t even aware of it. I also like vague words like ‘everything’ and ‘and so on’. Words and phrases like that are an incredibly common parlance in our language, yet you almost never see them in literature, giving the speech in most books a very artificial feel.

Give us three ‘Good to Know’ facts about you. Be creative.

I own more Transformers toys than I do utensils, plates, and cook implements combined.

I spend the majority of my life ‘in-camp’ (training and eating as if I was preparing for a professional fight).

I am absolutely terrified of water.

 Out of your photo album of life that you had to choose one photo to keep from being destroyed, what would that memory depict?

My picture with Colleen Doran (author and artist of A Distant Soil) at Sci-Con 17. I was fifteen and it was my first convention. Getting to meet one of my idols was just beyond belief.

What’s your personal theme music?

‘Can’t Get the Best of Me’ by Cyprus Hill.

All writers are inevitably compared to other writers. Who would you like to be compared to, if you’re going to have to hear it at all?

Geez, I don’t know. Somebody who doesn’t suck? That’s a tough one because on the one hand, you want to be compared to your icons, but on the other hand, you don’t think your work is equal to theirs. I guess if I had to answer, I would want to be compared to Rumiko Takahashi, because her work is so colorful and so diverse. You can spot a Takahashi work in a heartbeat, but each world has a very distinctive feel.