Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction, Reading nearly anything, Tryskeleon D3, Football (Go SeaHawks!), Tolkien, hiking, backpacking, The Hobbit, A good road trip, Jules Verne, LOTR, RPGing.
First Lord of the Rings reading experience:
Read the Hobbit first when I was 11 or 12. That book, along with the Mysterious Island, Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea and Childhood's End turned me on to Fantasy / Science Fiction.
Favorite Tolkien character:
Hmmmm. Gandalf? Beorn? Balin? Theodin? Gimli? Argh! Too . . . many . . . choices!