About Me
"What is an author but a wriggling bag of experiences. Living breathing stories crying to be set free."
Growing up in the holler in rural Appalachia provided ample opportunities to explore the basics of life. I was born in a log home my grandfather built using lumber he logged from up in the holler. Traipsing to the branch to pick watercress, throwing rocks in the pond, and even surprising a snake or two along the way. As time moved on so did my young mind. Comic books came first, which led to books with words. Ultimately the sky was the limit as I discovered fantasy and science fiction.
A dismal attempt at university sent me on a different path: into the world of nuclear-powered submarines, deep beneath the waves. I spent many hours in the engine room, letting my mind drift through all the possibilities life might offer. That’s probably where my creative thinking first took root—often laughing to myself that the dirty-faced kid from the holler was now punching holes in the ocean, underway on nuclear power.
And even in the Navy I managed to have diverse experiences. What Naval enlistment could be complete without a tour in Idaho, cosplaying as a cowboy?
After the Navy, I spent nearly a decade working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. I rotated through the biology division, fusion energy, and finally landed in the early days of the lab’s computer operations. There, I found something unexpected: I had a knack for software. And while I didn’t have the degree needed to climb the ladder at ORNL, I carried that passion into a full-time career in software development.
Fast forward a couple of decades, and I’ve since retired from the technology world. Tired of software’s overuse of semicolons, I’ve turned to the ultimate development language: plain old human storytelling.
I’m currently working on an Appalachian crime drama, as well as a crime thriller set in 1980s Las Vegas—two stories exploring how regular people respond to life-altering events. And somewhere in the shadows of my hard drive? A couple dozen short stories in various stages of not quite ready yet.
When I’m not writing, you’ll probably find me hiking in the woods, kayaking a quiet lake, or rolling dice