About

Intelligent avocados, blenders and extra-terrestrials

I live on a farm with my family in California. Whenever I have a bit of free time, I usually do some writing or make a bee-line for the guitar or piano. Life has always been like that. I first started writing in earnest in sixth grade, laboring under the assumption that stories about intelligent avocados, blenders and extra-terrestrials would find a ready market. Reader reaction subsequently convinced me otherwise.

Several decades later, I write mostly fantasy and science fiction, though the genre of humor greatly interests me, as P. G. Wodehouse and Richard Powell are two of my favorite authors.

Quite The Ordinary Background

I certainly don’t make my living from writing, though that’s always a moon to shoot for. Speaking of making a living, I always enjoy reading Louis L’Amour’s mini biography on the backs of his books. It’s a nice punch in the face to contemplate what he did and how that might have shaped his writing: muleskinner, boxer, sailor, the list goes on.

Then There is Mine

Myself, I’ve worked a fair amount of jobs so far. Welder, irrigator, house painter, gardener on an Israeli kibbutz, orphanage in Ethiopia, ran a post office in a UN refugee camp in Thailand, associate producer and jack-of-all-trades for a TV production company in Scotland (1A Productions), construction down in the Amazon, data processor for a health insurance company (arguably the worst job in the world), interactive producer for an animation company in Chicago (VeggieTales, Larryboy, 3-2-1 Penguins!), ran my own company for a while and produced kid’s DVDs (Barney, Bob the Builder, Toddsworld and the re-released Fragglerock series), farming and land use consultant.

Being a father and husband, however, is the hardest and best job of all.

I don’t aim to measure up to L’Amour, but he’s a good role model in that regard.