Look and Listen

Biography

Born in New York City and moving across the George Washington Bridge before he was ten Ken calls the town of Leonia NJ as the place he grew up. After graduating from Leonia High in 1970 he entered the Navy and was honorably discharged in 1974. He moved to Virginia when he was 28 and stayed there for twenty years. Working many different jobs,from retail to industry and sales, all through these years he never quite found what he really wanted to do. In the mid nineties he was hired by Intuit for the tax season in the Fredericksburg VA call center and something clicked well enough to spend the next fourteen years of his life with the company. Through hard work, timing and luck he was transferred to San Diego and worked as a programmer for the last seven years with the Company. In December of 2003 he moved to Arizona and was able to continue working for Intuit remotely from his home in Sedona. January of 2007 gave him a new challenge in life when he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia. The challenge was to continue with a wonderful job that included stress that could make the arrhythmia more dangerous. The only question really was what to do next. The desire to write was an everyday companion that patiently waited over forty years for its chance. When he was younger Ken listened to the advice of well intentioned friends and family, who wanted only the best for him, by never following the desire to write. Through the moments of an anything but average lifetime Ken kept his fingers in the pot by writing letters, poetry and short stories which stoked but never fulfilled the dream to write. The health issue brought the writing opportunity to the forefront creating an obvious though not easy decision. Leaving a career as a programmer with one of the top twenty companies in the USA was difficult but necessary. It can be exhilarating to finally live a dream, also a sobering awakening. The words flowed and so did the endless query letters. As the editor of my first book explained. "You've finished the book now get the emotion away, it is a business." Easier said than done. We, as writers, put a huge effort in our books and most of that effort comes from investing not a small piece of ourselves. Intellectually we can remove ourselves from what we have written but emotionally, the book or article, poem or short story, always has that piece of us. Now the question is "Okay you got one published what next?" Another one of course.

Inspiration

Spirituality, what makes us tick behind what the eye sees, what makes us step up and take notice, that is inspiration. The understanding that not something is greater than us but that we are part of the greatness. Those unseen events that only we know are there, so personal it only catches our attention by the whisper of a thought or a suggested what if. Those moments that spur us on to what is possible or if not possible to a hint at what is beyond our reasoning.