Look and Listen

Biography

I've been writing for a long time. I started writing poetry when I was very young (like, seven) and progressed fairly quickly to short stories. I wrote my first full-length novel (horrid, by the way) when I was 17. During high school, I won several writing competitions including national awards for history and mythology. I was also a national champion in Greek and Latin mythology. (See where the story ideas come from?) I attended college in Tennessee, where I developed an overwhelming love for UT football. A one-act play I wrote for a master class while in college was produced - "Puppets". It was only then that I realized my education did absolutely nothing for my immediate professional future. Given a choice between law school and summer stock theatre, I took theatre and remained in the acting/directing/designing profession for ten years. This career took me all over the eastern United States. Eventually, however, I got tired of living other people's words (except for Shakespeare, naturally) and decided to try something different. After a car accident that left me unable to work for three years (and left me with untold medical bills and a very successful disc replacement operation) I began reworking the first book I wrote. It has since developed into a projected ten-book high fantasy series, of which eight books are finished. (For those of you keeping count, that's about 2 million words) I also started a second mainstream project last year, a two-book dark fantasy series currently in rewrites. I am married, live in southeastern Ohio, and have two teenaged daughters and many, many, many cats--one of whom is perched stubbornly on my lap as I try to write this. Just for kicks, their names are Satan, Impy, Dante, Gabriel, Pixie, Meowkovitch, Crookshanks, Volunteer, Elf, Muggle, Asphodel and Biscuit-the kitten. (obviously, those are the cats and not my daughters.) In my spare time, all six hours of it a week, I enjoy reading, old Katharine Hepburn movies, new sci-fi/fantasy flicks, a mean game of euchre, numerous vodka martinis, (chilled, straight up, only a teensy splash of vermouth with both an olive and a lime wedge) and Rolling Rock beer.

Inspiration

As a high student, I was blessed with two outstanding teachers. My Latin teacher, Grady Warren, helped to steer me to state and national championships in Greco-Roman mythology-a love that permeates my work to this day. My English teacher, the late Kitty Savage, encouraged me to write and taught me to write something every day. Whatever I accomplish has its origins in these two incredible educators. And I am occasionally inspired by vodka--not often, but there you have it.