I've been writing for as long as I can remember and storytelling has always been an integral part of my family. Perhaps I was inspired by my love of children's books and classics; perhaps by the stories my father, "Papa", would tell us late into the nights about Grandpa in the years leading up to and after WWII and about his childhood adventures exploring the blue depths of Hawaii. Yet, more likely, it was a combination of both along with my parents' constant encouragement to use my imagination rather than spending hours watching mindless TV. Those were the days when children played outside making mud pies, riding bikes, climbing trees and building igloos in the wintertime. 
However, certain movies and series' ranging anywhere from the adaptations of Mansfield Park to Lord of the Rings played a role as well. 
There was plenty to feed my imagination and always a stack of Papa's old Optics papers on which to invent worlds and countries, peoples and their stories. These pastimes in my formative years inspired my love for creative writing.