I grew up in Fresno, California, and joined the Army after my high school graduation at age 17. It was during my time in the service in Germany when I began to develop my writing skills because I figured sitting at a desk in an office was better duty than firing a howitzer in the dust and mud of an artillery range. By the time I got out of the service I was a reasonably good writer and decided to stick with it for a while. I got a job at The Fresno Guide where I started out writing obituaries eventually going on to cover local politics, city council and such. After that I worked in the Nashville, Tennessee, office of Billboard Publications and then went on to write full time for a host of local newspapers with various stints in editorial roles.
In 1993 I documented my real life experience by graduating from Arizona Western College, Yuma, with a degree in English with emphasis in Journalism. I graduated with high academic distinction, Journalism Departmental Honors, Honors general studies and membership in Phi Theta Kappa. That meant I got to wear a bunch of gold stuff on my gown on graduation night. You may be able to tell that I try not to take myself too seriously. I do, however, push myself to maintain proper structure and mechanics when it comes to writing and editing. It is a habit instilled in me from working for years under editors like Irwin Kirby who used to come out of his corner office periodically and announce, "I'm surrounded by a world full of idiots." What I found out, though, is that the tougher the editors were the better writer I became.
I have conducted a lot of personal study on the American Civil War and I'm currently working on a fictional novel set in that time period. These days, for the most part, I'm retired and enjoy life in the mountains of the upper south. I live in northern Tennessee near the Kentucky border where I have a house on two acres. I look at life through a blue collar lens and have done a lot of things for a living besides writing. I enjoy working with writers, sharing my experiences, and helping them find their voice although I'm pretty good at editing the pros as well. I write a regular op-ed for OffTheBus which is usually posted on Mondays.