I was born in Cleveland, but grew up all over the west coast. From attending concerts with hippies at Stanford as a child in the early 70s to living on a small ranch in Central Oregon to coming of age at the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Sunrise Mall in the suburbs of Sacramento. I hitchhiked up and down the coast seven times by the age of 21. My whole life has been steeped in music, SF and Fantasy, the martial arts, animals, counter-culture philosophy, and role-playing games.
I've worked as a carny, made pizza, helped build houses, worked the counter at a convenience store, delivered newspapers, ran a machine that bent metal for window screens, driven a delivery truck loaded with several tons of steel, and worked in a retail store.
I've been writing since I was in the 4th grade. I knew almost immediately that it was what I wanted to do.
I didn't know if I'd ever get published, but I dreamed of it.
At nineteen I started designing a role-playing game based on my work. It wasn't anything special, I suppose, but it kept us entertained on the weekends for the better part of fifteen years. As time went on I started pouring more into actual writing and the game fell somewhere along the wayside. Maybe someday we'll resurrect it.
Other Interests
My wife was the Shiba Inu co-rep for SPDR. We got involved with these folks not long after I bought my dog Kitsune (the name stems from Japanese mythology, and refers to a magical fox spirit). Shiba Inus are a primitive breed, which means they are very pack oriented and need strong leadership. If the humans don't assume the role of Alphas, the dogs will. And that's a bad idea. Shibas are clever animals and can be very manipulative if you let them.
My wife and I are well known for being able to work with problem Shibas, ones that have suffered abuse or neglect. We run a strong pack and we have had a great deal of success training dogs out of such things as food or fear aggression. It takes a lot of compassion and patience, but its very worthwhile seeing a dog who might well have been condemned to death going to a good home after all.
