I love the smell of new book, so I'm a fan of Barnes and Noble and Borders, much to the dismay of my Fiction Editor J. Mark Bertrand, who trolls the used bookstores finding all kinds of gems. I blame my prejudice against used books on my allergies to dust and the anonymous person who highlighted words like "the" in my first gently used college text. I buy books faster than I can read them, but eventually I get to most of them. I also love drawing and painting, but find little time to do either. Other interests include Eucher, snowmobiling, and baseball, when I can find the time. By baseball, I generally mean watching the Cubs.

My music tastes are eclectic, ranging from the Fray to the Newsboys to Big and Rich to Kanye West to Nicole Nordeman to Maroon 5 and on and on. My favorite song is "Hands in the Air" by the Waiting.

Too many to list... but my favorite author is Toni Morrison if I'm feeling literary, Janet Evanovich if I need a break from anything serious. Banana Yoshimoto's Lizard is my favorite collection of short stories. I really respect and enjoy Don Miller as a writer and as a speaker; I especially enjoyed his book To Own a Dragon