I suppose rainy days and a voracious appetite for books are probably the source for the blessing/curse of my relentless imagination. Or it could be from my callow teenage über-geek years as a Dungeon Master. This was back in the dark ages before the ascendance of personal computers and their unholy spawn – MMORPG’s. In those primitive times my pimply comrades and I used books to play our RPG’s. Real paper books with static illustrations by Zeus! I spent many, many wasted hours of my formative years designing fearsome “dungeons,” epic “campaigns” and heroic “characters.” These role playing games were my first clumsy attempts to write fiction and to exercise the power of my imagination.
Over the years, this habit of daydreaming set me on my own grand quest to find something to do with my life. So with my barely earned high school diploma in hand, I joined the United States Coast Guard. I still look on those 6 ½ years with pride. The ‘Guard gave me some of the most memorable experiences of my life. I held on for dear life as my 44’ Motor Life Boat crashed through the legendary surf of the Columbia River Bar and I kept holding on during my time as a flight engineer on HH-3F Pelican helicopters over the wild and beautiful islands of Southeast Alaska.
After an honorable discharge from the service, I tried my hand at a vast and motley line up of jobs. At one time or another I have been a millworker, metal grinder, diesel mechanic, mental health counselor, cemetery worker , security guard, college student and finally stay at home dad. Along the way, I have been blessed with my wonderful supportive wife Deanne and two great kids, Cole and Abigail.
In 2011, in the midst of a leisurely slide into middle age, my mother Nancy, my sister Anne and I started a little book club, just for giggles. It lasted for a grand total of one book before we abandoned it in favor of writing our own books. Who would have guessed that our writing endeavors began with a failed reading group?
So, now I have the wonderful privilege of writing down all these fantastic stories rattling around my brain and I get to do it with the best collaborators on the planet, my family.
Litzophreniacs3 