I love the fact that so many people enjoy reading, some for facts and knowledge and some for entertainment. I especially appreciate that people (with their valuable and limited time) read the works I publish. Also, I am thankful so many people now prefer ebook digital downloads to killing trees. Hardback and paperback books will continue to be important for people of all ages, especially seniors. However, using the new digital formats is healthier for our planet and for ourselves.

When I was a child, I wrote parody songs and received disapproval from my parents. By the time I was in high school, I wanted to be a newspaper reporter and foreign correspondent. I accomplished the first, but, because I was a single parent, I didn't pursue the latter. Over the years as an entertainer, I wrote music (songs and lyrics) and was thrilled to join ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Publishers). I really didn't think I could write fiction, but in 2008 I entered an online fiction short-story contest and won first place. From then on, I started writing novels as well as non-fiction works.

I think characters - they become real and there are days I feel like I'm living with a hundred different personalities. I even became an alternate invisible character as a child. When my mother died and we were left with a stern dad, I began pretending to be Hubo the Duck, with a different voice and a very loving nature. I continued the character for my children, since as a single parent I had to be the disciplinarian mother and could do Hubo as the loving and compassionate one, and I still do this character with my grandchildren. Hubo really has been like a different person who lives with us. I also created various characters to use when teaching school and they can be seen in the book I wrote on creativity in the classroom. Characters provide fun..

I have a few Lee Gabor books to finish and publish, including "The Teacher's Ultimate Handbook" and another, "Short Stories from Long Wars and Other Conflicts." I'm also writing books under a pen name, Lee masters. Those are astrological non-fiction and fiction works. I do want to write a young people's novel, but haven't settled on any of the ingredients as yet.

I have many. I've always loved to read and, as lots of kids do, I would hide under the covers, turn on my flashlight, and enjoy a book into the wee hours of the morning. Of course, that made me sleepy the next day in school, but so what, lol. Every Saturday, I'd go to the library in Atlanta (where I grew up) and carry home as many novels as I could, including Nancy Drew, the Hardy boys, Earl Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason novels, and more, including Margaret Mitchell's only novel, "Gone With the Wind.". As a teen, I got into Leon Uris and James Michener novels. Added to these have been James Patterson, Tami Hoag, Steven Baldacci, John Grisham, Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels, and many others. I tried to read a book a day in 2013 and plan to return to writing in 2014.

In 2013, i spent a lot of time reading and also working out at the fitness center and doing yoga. In 2014, I plan to continue the fitness and yoga, but to return to writing. I needed a rest from all the characters I invented who seem to live with me and most of whom want a sequel written to the book in which they were introduced. I don't plan to write sequels, but may do a series - haven't decided yet.

Absolutely - Zigzags, the short story I wrote in 2008 for the online contest. I'm including it in the book I'm working on, "Short Stories from Long Wars and Other Conflicts" (the World War II story).

It depends on the book. With the novel "Love Never Dies," I returned home from Thanksgiving dinner and in my heart was stirring the fact that a friend I grew up with would never enjoy another family Thanksgiving dinner because he went MIA in Vietnam in 1970. I went to bed and the next day I woke up and went to the computer and the story just flew out of me, as though I were upchucking. I could hardly type fast enough. Other novels began with a character that seemed to be nagging at me and when I sat down to write, again, the story unfolded. I tried outlining, etc., but that didn't work for me. I get an inspiration, sit at the computer, and my fingers begin to move. This is similar to the fact that I play piano "by ear" rather than reading sheet music and I compose that way. I sit down, place my fingers on the keys and they just take off. Of course, writing non-fiction is a bit different, but still those books come from being inspired to share information.

For covers, I have an idea of the characters and what is the message of the contents. I try to bring those together in a relevant way so that the reader has an idea of the contents by viewing the cover. I use Microsoft PhotoDraw to create covers for the ebooks (and I write in Microsoft Word, although the screenplay was written using a screenwriting software program).

I love suspense books, especially when I find one that has surprised me with the ending. Often, I've figured out the plot by time I'm halfway through the book. If the book is well-written, I continue. There are times when I start a book and after a few pages, I've put it down. I lobbied for a new library in our little town and we now have a wonderful full-service library with an administrator who makes sure we have the latest best-sellers. I read a lot of those, but again, most are suspense. Sometimes I read historical novels and I do read non-fiction often.

One of my goals in 2014 is to actually market my books. To date I published them and mentioned the titles on my Facebook page. I have yet to send out press releases to local newspapers. Today, I am updating a website for my son's golf course (closed for repair now) and I am mentioning on that the availability of my novel "Bad Day at Eagle Rock" (setting for most of the book is the golf course). I have read Mark's publication on marketing, but just haven't gotten around to doing that yet.