Absolutely none! The name HillCollins came about for my own personal, as well as professional, reasons. You see, the names Hill and Collins are both my surnames. Hill is the name I was given at birth, and Collins is my ancestral name, which would have passed to me if my father had not been adopted by the Hill family before I was born.

It is my intention to use both my real name (Jason C. Hill), as well as a pen name using the name Collins in my writing career. Therefore it would make more sense in the long run to use an url that combined the two names, rather than have two sites for the same author.

I'd say I first got the inclination to craft stories when I was in elementary school. My brothers would play Dungeons and Dragons, and they eventually allowed me to play with them when I was about 12. I think that was when I developed my love for fantasy. As time went on I wanted to tell stories of my own. I begged my siblings time and again to be Dungeon Master, but to no avail. They were under the impression that you can either DM like a pro your very first time trying or you can never ever DM at all. Because I lacked the skill to DM when I was 14 they held it against me for the rest of my life.

I remember being at a loss for what to do. At that time I started writing my own D&D modules just for the fun of making up adventures. Some time later, my brother introduced me to the wonders of Dragonlance novels. I was held spellbound from the very first page I read. I devoured every Dragonlance book my brother owned. I think this is where I got the idea to write from. I realized that my creativity wasn't limited to Dungeons and Dragons. From then I started writing. In school I'd write stories in my notebook (my teachers thought I was taking notes, haha). When I got a computer I started writing stories on it (my hands were very thankful for the change in format). I wrote and wrote. After a while my skills inevitably improved.

I first seriously attempted to write a novel on February 10th, 2000 (two days after my birthday, actually). After two years trying to write a full-length fantasy novel---which served as two years of intensive practice at the craft of writing---I came up with the idea for Dark Kinship. I finished the first book, "Shadow Bond," in early 2004, and am currently trying to get it into print. It's my dream to be a writer!

By sitting around, goofing off. It's true. I learned a long time ago that the best way for me to come up with ideas is to just daydream. The harder I try to come up with stuff, the harder it is to get ideas, and the worse those ideas tend to be when they do come.

So before I start writing, I start dreaming. I'll play games, listen to music, or just sit around and stare out the window. The idea for "Shadow Bond" came from sitting around, listening to music, actually. Once I have a basic idea in my head it becomes easy to build on that idea and let it grow and develop in my head.

Most people think I'm a geek for stuff like this, but I'm I'm really fond of web design, as you can probably tell from how I have this page set up (and the fact that I advertise that I wrote the whole thing by hand). I guess you could say my website is my secondary hobby. I''ve done a dozen of them in the past, of varying quality and success.

Aside from writing, I also love reading. More than I enjoy TV, actually. I also love going for walks in a peaceful setting, meditation, and collecting music CDs. I also collect fantasy miniatures, mainly statuettes of dragons. I'm into anything fantasy. To celebrate the completion of my first novel I bought a sword, which I now have hung on my wall.

I have several favorite movies. My all time faves are "Hackers," "Neverending Story," "The Labyrinth," "The Wizard," "Adventures in Babysitting," and the "Lord of the Rings" movies. Granted, most of my mentions are movies I've watched as a child, so that probably tints my view of them. I also enjoyed "Trick," "Road Trip," "But I'm a Cheerleader," and "American Pie." Unlike most people, though, I'm not a movie buff and I have a hard time naming more than three or four celebrities off the top of my head. A lot of people think I'm weird for that. Oh well.

My favorite book is, hands down, the whole "Chronicles" Draonlance trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. That's what got me into reading, and what inspired me to start writing. I also love George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm." Everyone should read those two books!

As for food, I am addicted to sushi. I can't get enough of the stuff. I think it may be slightly disturbing, how much I love to eat sushi. It's not that I just eat it, I have to slowly savor it, haha. I drink way too much Mountain Dew, especially when I'm writing.