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I don't usually do introductions so if this is too brief, ask away. I'm willing to answer anything.

My name is Richard Ellis Novak. I was born and raised in Nevada. I'm a writer and an illustrator; my illustrations run the spectrum from traditional fine art such as watercolor and oil paintings, to photomanipulation aided by software. I am married to Vivian, a Filipina (see my icon). Together we have two little girls and we are due to have a little boy in February 2013. I live in Guam, and I'm set to move in late 2013 or early 2014. Politically I'm a conservative libertarian hybrid; I think every law should be based on Constitutional authority. I'm also a capitalist, obviously. I'm writing a children's book (and you can find posts regarding that in the Productivity Forum) and hope to sell it when I'm done.

I grew up agnostic based mainly on the idea that there was so much disagreement between the various religious factions out there, but they one thing most of them had in common was a belief in some higher power. As I got older the belief in some all-knowing, all-powerful creator seemed less and less logical to me. The only creators I can say I've seen are men creating the world we live in. Not the dirt or the trees or the animals, but the steel, the structures, and the things we use animals for. We are the creators, I thought. It was several years ago I picked up Atlas Shrugged for the first time, and what I read was shocking. It shocked me that there was someone else out there who thought the way I did. More shocking still was how fine a point she had honed into her beliefs. Ayn Rand spoke to me from the grave through her writing. I did not feel alone in my beliefs anymore.

I am, in addition to being an author and illustrator, an avid shooter (pistol, rifle, shotgun, and archery) and I love cooking. I love much classical music, thrash metal, and the occasional old school rap.

That's me. It's good to be here.

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Hi there. :) Welcome to the forum. Nice to hear about your profession. More writers is always good news. We could always use more of them to put more non-altruist art out there. Do you have any works published yet? If so, that's great, I know how relatively little writing ever makes it to being published. I intend to eventually support myself on writing and illustrations for said writing and have long expected to go through an extensive period living in a box and collecting rejection notices. :P

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I was going to post in your other thread, but I found here more fitting. I am wondering, what other writers besides Rand do you like or admire? I always like to ask that about other writers. For instance, it's not uncommon for anyone interested in Objectivism to also like Robert Heinlein. =P

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Thanks for the welcome. I admire various authors in different genres including Wally Lamb (I Know This Much is True), Donna Tartt (The Secret History), Stephen King (every other book on the planet, though I disagree wildly with his politics), Peter David (comics including Hulk and Spider-Man, and several novels), Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), Milton Friedman (Free to Choose), Ray Bradbury (Ferenheit 451), and lots of others. Nothing has ever held my attention like The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged did, but stylistically I probable have more of King in me; in fact, the project I'm outlining in the Productivity Forum is meant purposely as a kind of homage to his Dark Tower series, though I hated, HATED how it ended. I've never read any of Robert Heinlein's work, but I do enjoy science fiction. Maybe I'll get around to it one day. I did try some of Terry Goodkind's books and never really got into them.

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