Nobody really asks me questions, frequently or otherwise, so until that starts happening, this is just a Q & A with myself. It's a list of things that relate to me and my work that I hope you'll find interesting. If you actually do have some questions for me, hit me up on the contact page.
And let's be honest, most “Frequently Asked Questions” pages are exactly this. They're not literally questions that have been frequently asked. Truly, the format should be called:
By far, the question I am most frequently asked. I am fine. Most days, I'm fine.
Who is anyone?
Man, this is easy.
Don't start with that nonsense. Just ask where I'm from.
Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Rhode Island again, Texas, Florida, Texas again, Florida again, New Mexico, and Texas again. I liked Rhode Island best. I'm from Rhode Island.
Asimov and Bradbury aren't returning my calls anymore, so mainly from a combination of sugar, caffeine, and sleep deprivation.
Which isn't great for a diabetic.
I don't want to promise something that ends up changing or being cut altogether, and I dislike painting myself into corners. I don't often get into what's coming down the line unless it's close to publication. When that happens, you won't have to ask the question because I'll be screaming from the mountaintop about it.
But, I'll tell you that I'm not done with the Strike the Match series yet, and The Reviviad is looming.
Well… yeah. That's being a writer. It's kind of our thing. If you're talking about “plotting” versus “pantsing,” I reject the premise that there's a substantive difference between the two. But that's a position worthy of more words than this format allows.
I only ever wrote for school assignments until I was in my early twenties. I'd been more interested in consuming than producing until that point, but tried my hand at a few things and found I enjoyed it. I wrote two fan fiction short stories that were moderately well-received (neither of which shall you ever read) and then decided to tackle a novel. I wrote my first novel between 1995 and 2000 (the exact year eludes me, but I want to say… '97?). It remains unpublished, with good reason.
From there, I found myself drawn to other things for quite a long time—a career in IT, mainly. Fiction writing took a backseat to non-fiction: three books (2006, 2008, and 2012) and some blogging.
It wasn't until the mid-2010's that I started writing fiction again, and here we are.
In no particular order, an incomplete list:
Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, Katherine Addison, Robert Jordan, J.K. Rowling, Chuck Wendig, Neil Peart, Martha Wells, Star Wars, Joseph Fink, Jeffrey Cranor, Hillary Clinton, Barack & Michelle Obama, Kevin J. Anderson, my wife Angela, Jeffrey Deaver, and Gary Larson.
In truth, not much.
Most genre labels apply to how characters act or the situations in which they find themselves. Science fiction and fantasy are usually defined by their settings, and part of that worldbuilding often includes supernatural elements (whether that's magic or sufficiently advanced tech).
Cliche as it might be, the rule of thumb still holds true. Science fiction is spaceships and laser guns, fantasy is horses and magic.
I do. It's just that my romances and mysteries and thrillers and whatever also have dragons, wizards, spaceships, and aliens. Sometimes all in the same story.
I'm gonna stop you right there. Oxford commas are always correct. Next question.
The first video game I ever played was Pac-Man on the Atari 2600. I've played on old systems like Intellivision and Colecovision, NES, SNES, and Sega Genesis. I played the usual fare on those systems. I moved into PC gaming after that with titles like Quake and Unreal Tournament. Man, was I good at UT. Really good.
Got into MMOs for a while, things like Ultima Online, Earth & Beyond, City of Heroes, World of WarCraft, and EVE Online. I went back to consoles with the Xbox One and played far too many hours of Destiny and Destiny 2. Upgraded to the Xbox Series X in 2020 and played Fortnite, ARK, The Outer Worlds, and various Star Wars titles, among others.
I don't play anything at the moment, though. Guess I'm not a “true gamer” anymore.
I mean, I don't hate social media, exactly. Most of it is awful, certainly. There's no accountability for anyone who posts anonymously. Nobody ever cites sources or evidence. Activists—whatever the cause—don't do nuance. Too many people are there just to argue, and too many of them prefer scorched earth to debating things in good faith. Social media amplifies the extremes in ways that should make anyone uncomfortable.
The world would be better off without it, but until the day when humanity collectively decides to abide by the better angels of its nature, we're stuck with it.
So, connect with me on Bluesky. It's not as toxic as the others!
My friend, we're all just winging it forever. Goals are great and all, but life is a bit like buying a TV. It seems straightforward, but every model is different, the manual is in 200 different languages, and the instructions don't always make sense. And even when you get it working, sometimes the power goes out.
Sign up for periodic advance info, updates, and subscriber-only flash fiction.
BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS, NOT BURNING BRIDGES. YOUR INFO IS SAFE WITH ME.
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