I started writing at an early age, creating comics based on Mayne Reid’s works, particularly The Boy Hunters: Or, Adventures in Search of a White Buffalo, because one of the main characters was my first crush. My dad used to read “grown-up” books to me out loud, and I’m still immensely grateful to him for that. Later on, my interests were shaped by numerous fantasy books I devoured. Naturally, Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Anne McCaffrey’s The Dragonriders of Pern, and Roger Zelazny’s The Chronicles of Amber had a strong influence on me. I like to say that I’m…