About Me

Let's see....what would be considered standard in an About Me section....?

I'm a lifelong resident of Illinois (Where our motto is Vote Early, Vote Often). In case you hadn't noticed, we're famous for having most of our former Governors end up in jail...or on Reality TV. Or both. I live in a small town in the East Central part of the State, with my wife Lesa and our two kids, Leah and Justin. Sometimes, on our tax forms we claim three children, because our son is active enough (and often loud enough) to count as two.

I have a Master's in Psychology, and I've worked for over 20 years in the field of Human Services, primarily with folks who have Developmental Disabilities, and with Severely Emotionally Disturbed children. My current focus is Training and Staff Development, at a facility for abused and neglected kids.

I'm a lifelong Omnivorous reader of both fiction and non-fiction, and for the past ten years have spent a great deal of my elusive "free" time writing....mostly "weird" Christian novels and short stories. (Officially, it's known as Speculative Christian fiction, but "weird" has a nice, Ray Bradbury kind of ring to it)

People like to talk about their pets on blogs...so I should mention that our family includes, in order of appearance:

1) A mongrel mutt...part Basenji, part rat terrier = Sadie

2) An American Quarter Horse named Poncho (who was...literally...the proverbial "gift horse." And yes, I looked.)

3) A young Ball Python named Rimae (pronounced "rye-may").  Her name is Japanese, but we're encountering limited success teaching her to speak the language. And for the record, the women in the family chose a snake for a pet.

A few of my favorite things?

Favorite Author: Arturo Perez-Reverte.I love and respect hundreds--maybe thousands--of writers, but if I had to pick one, it would be Spain's favorite literary son.

Favorite place to be: Anywhere at the Ocean (Not a lot of those in Illinois, btw.) Flagler Beach, FL is a sentimental favorite.

Favorite music:  Wow...tough one. I like a lot of things. I enjoy Jazz (especially guitarists, like Larry Carlton);  Love classical organ music like J.S. Bach. Blues is good. When I'm mellow, I like Enya. As far as rock, I'd pick Switchfoot and Fireflight.

Favorite musical guilty pleasure: Has to be ABBA. I know, I know...Swedish pop from the 70's. What am I thinking? But if all you've heard is "Dancing Queen," you're missing the boat. Nobody like the Swedes for the seriously sad ("Winner Takes It All") or the seriously happy ("Bang-a-Boomerang"). 

Favorite Movie: I confess, I'm not much of a movie buff...Still haven't seen Chariots of Fire, for instance, to give you an idea of how far behind I am. On a good year, I'll see one or two in the theater. That said, Titanic gets my Academy Award vote. Great love story, great attention to historical detail. Great reminder that all we have for sure is Today...   (Lord of the Rings trilogy comes in a close second)

Favorite food: Chinese.Love that stir-fry!

Favorite comic: Silent film star Harold Lloyd. His career actually spanned the transition from silent films to talkies, but he's at his best during the 1920's with classics like Girl Shy, Safety Last, Why Worry, and The Kid Brother.