I was born and raised in a small Arizona mining town, to parents who were both bioscience professionals – a veterinarian and a microbiologist. So, of course, I avoided the biosciences like the plague…

After a boringly normal childhood, I found myself packed off to a small private boarding school to learn Latin. Somehow that never came to pass, but those years certainly “broadened” my education. I met, lived with, and learned a great deal from people hailing from foreign lands all over the world – Iran, Switzerland, Japan, Venezuela, Texas… I also learned to write the English language (which was the biggest surprise of the experience).

Then off to New England for college, where I learned to say “ayup,” and learned that I was not qualified to use it. Met my wife there and, in the fullness of time, raised three fantastic children. [Spouse edit: You think that I might have had something to do with that? Ayup, typical…]

Okay, okay! Yes, met the wonderful woman who has stuck by the side of this curmudgeon for some thirty-plus years. Happy, now? You don’t have to rub it in that you are licensed to use that word…

Tracking again… ah. Banged around the IT industry for the next quarter of a century. Finally (in 2015) I decided that I could set impossible deadlines, have unreasonable expectations, and do things that make no sense with no help whatsoever – in other words, realized that I wanted to be a writer when I grew up. So here I am.

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A note – When I finally realized that I needed a bio piece for Amazon, I just started writing it as I normally would. Then the belated thought came that maybe I should take a look at other, successful author’s bios? Yes, on some days I am slower on the uptake than on others, especially when I’m feeling rushed by one of those self-imposed deadlines.

So this page started out as a rough draft of some 1,300 words. Way too long for an Amazon bio. Also way too long for the typical blog bio. Rewrite time!

What you see here is therefore my current Amazon bio, recycled. Of course, I saved the earlier effort – never throw anything away! When I am rich and famous, I can expand that piece out. I only need about 59,000 more words or so, and then I can sell it to the adoring suckers, errr, fans, and become even more rich and famous…