So, who am I?
Welcome to the story behind the storyteller.
From Humble Beginnings…
“Let’s go back in time…to a place far, far away…”
I was born and raised on a dairy farm in Cambridge, Vermont. My upbringing was no different from most kids in a rural area, long before the Internet, cable TV, and smartphones. Our days revolved around the farm, and those we knew or bumped into. Communication was limited to the landline phone, seeing someone face-to-face, and of course, snail mail. We lived the rural New England life, and were always busy. Still, I could find time alone with my books, in particular “The Hobbit” and “LOTR” (which I read long before they were fashionable, thank you very much).
The outside world came through newspapers and TV, but mostly radio. We listened to Radio Vermont in the mornings; Dad for the weather, me for the No-School Announcements! We also occasionally tuned in CJAD Radio out of Canada, and later I listened to CHOM-FM and the music.
The box with no pictures fascinated me, but I never thought I’d have anything to do with it.
I came into a world of change, the music for one. My brothers grew me up on the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan, while a Johnny Winter 8-track that was left behind introduced me to the blues.
For much of my childhood, the routine sameness had me looking into the distance for what might be out there.
I was the youngest of four kids, and for whatever reason, I looked beyond those hills and wondered what was out there.
I had no idea how the radio would shape my creative life.
In My “Radio Daze”
“This could be interesting…”
I went to college with almost no idea of what I would study or what I wanted to be. Very quickly the path presented itself to me…
I was accepted to Saint Joseph’s College (now of Maine) in 1983. I thought journalism was what I wanted to study, but the closest I could get was to major in Communications. At the time, the school was replacing its AM radio station with an FM whose signal would reach well past the campus. The tower on the roof of the building struck me—and coming from a small town, I couldn’t wrap my head around the chance of 100,000 people hearing my voice.
You have to remember: radio was, and still is immediate.
I remember thinking, “This could be interesting.” I knew it was the quiet start of something big.
I began deejaying for the new station, WSJB-FM shortly after it was established. I was obsessed before we even flipped the switch and just wanted to do more. Then I started picking up part-time jobs with commercial stations. My college and professional lives merged.
I worked as a board operator for baseball games and talk shows, then after proving myself some, I got to jock. I did pretty much every format: pop, country, rock, Music of Your Life, and I kept going. I eventually moved into news, produced other people’s shows, and always found something to do.
My career shifted in a new way in 1988 when I got the offer to work at a station in Boston. It was like being called up to the major leagues.
I was on my way, or so I thought…
Digging Deep
“It’s just a jump to the left…”
In less than a year, the station I saw as my future was sold and we all got fired…and it was one of the best things that could have happened. It quickly led me to the people and worlds I didn’t know I needed.
I fell into a pool of diverse, talented, and slightly crazy people when I got involved with The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For the next seven or so years, I dove into a vast community and subculture that opened so many doors. When began as a side quest, became my life and the creative fuel of my 20s.
Ahltyrra live at the PA Faerie Fest 2010
In 1997 my Boston chapter concluded as I followed a job offer to Maine for a few years, then the journey brought me to Pennsylvania in 2000. Not long after moving here, I made friends with people connected to the Pagan community. We experimented with music and formed a band called Ahltyrra in 2006, which we later renamed The Dharma Fools in 2010.
The Dharma Fools at an open-mic at Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (HMAC). It captured us in the midst of finding our band identity and sound.
In the same way that the Rocky Horror community fed on each other’s energy and creativity, we did the same. Those energies are everywhere, and I was finally open to them and could recognize them, and in me. The cast of characters that surrounded me at the time compelled me to take several seemingly innocuous and twisted threads that became the core of my first book, and to write it!
My first book attempt back in the 90’s was shot down and at the time I accepted it as dead. Ten years of experience and life unfolding later, here was a new idea that was ready, and I was ready.
The difference this time was what I had learned along the way: that I am a creative… that what I had always believed and felt was now confirmed, valued, and accepted. It finally all made perfect sense.
There was no turning back…
A New Obsession Begins
“The only thing that closes doors is our own minds.”
In 2007, I started writing this strange story, “Searching for Roy Buchanan.” I had barely an idea of what I wanted to write, and over the years it changed, was rewritten many times, was critiqued, shredded, and started anew. The most difficult part was to believe that I could focus my attention and energies long enough to get it done, but like all things, once those first words came out, I didn’t stop.
The next three or so years were just feverishly writing, rewriting, and editing while coming up with new ideas. Efforts to get published in this phase didn’t happen. I needed more “work.” I needed more time to develop my style.
This is the method I developed—I get an idea, I let my mind work it, then I sketch, make notes and timelines, and then I physically write. Some authors are “plotters”, like me—others are “pantsers”, they just write! There’s no right or wrong.
The process of producing a book is long. It takes time for a manuscript to be edited and proofed, to get the cover chosen, and to get the formatting complete. This was a lesson in patience for me. Once I adjusted, it fell into place.
“Parasite Girls” was self-released through Amazon in 2013 because I needed a calling card, something to show publishers and agents.
My break came the following year, when I shared a book signing at Midtown Scholar Bookstore with fellow author Robert Walton. He opened the door for me to Sunbury Press Books.
Eventually, “A Moment in the Sun” was published in 2016. “Live from the Cafe” followed in 2017, and then “Searching for Roy Buchanan” finally made its appearance in 2019.
I have not looked back.
“Time to go inward…”
The pandemic, while a difficult and tragic time for many, was a moment that I hoped would see us through the potential to no longer resist change, but to accept it.
Modern Times, Old Lessons
I was one of the lucky ones, an “Essential Worker,” so I was able to travel during the time of lockdown.
With my weekend job eliminated, for the first time in nearly a decade, I had Saturdays and Sundays off. I put it to use—I rewrote and/or edited everything unpublished since I’d started. I finished off the Sweet Dreams Series with “Call it Love”, which was released in 2021, and “Shake Hands with The Devil,” in 2022.
I then moved toward more commercial fiction again with “How the Story Ends,” which came out in 2024. Future releases are not set in stone, but there is much more for me to offer you.
Officially A Wise Curmudgeon
“Become the vision of yourself you want to see.”
When I began writing for real, I had an idea that whatever was coming through my hands was going to work. I didn’t realize Point A to Point B would involve lots of detours…
My Advice to Young and Aspiring Writers
As I was getting started writing, sparkly vampires and zombies were in vogue. Nearly every time I walked into a bookstore, I saw shelves full of books that, while likely well-written, looked and felt like knockoffs of Harry Potter, Twilight, and the like.
In a pre-influencer world, I also got what I perceived to be indirect advice about how I should go about my writing and what I had to do to become successful. I didn’t want to write to the trends. I just knew I was on a track… and the right one.
I’ve been fortunate in my various careers to have done pretty much what I enjoyed doing and wanted to do. That is more important than money, fame, all of that. If you enjoy what you do, you make a difference in some way for others, but also for yourself.
The important thing is to write!
Even a little each day adds up. If you are thinking about your writing, telling the story to yourself, then that counts—you are writing.
Writing is your practice; don’t see it as a thing you have to do. If it gives you comfort, pleasure, and a sense of purpose, it’s good.
This is Where We Are…
My aim is to keep writing, keep growing as an artist, and to share with you the stories that have kept me up at night, inspired me, and driven me to do more.
now what?
click the button and see where it takes you