I was first introduced to D&D back in 1979. Given that I was something of a youngling at the time, most of my early gaming days were spent as some tag-along, cure-dispensing cleric or other in my older brother's hack and slash campaigns.

Since then, I've had tons of fun playing the various versions of the game. I've split my gaming time pretty evenly between playing and DMing. Aside from D&D, I used to play a bit of Star Frontiers, James Bond and Champions. It goes without saying that I've also wasted a ludicrous number of hours on various CRPGs.

Some of my favorite writers in the fantasy genre are Fritz Leiber, Robert E. Howard, H. P. Lovecraft and George R. R. Martin.