| writing that puts story first


The Author

Dostoevsky famously started off his brilliant little work “Notes from Underground” with the phrase “I am a sick man… I am a wicked man.” I wish I could wrap my life up so conveniently. Truth be told, I wear a lot more labels than that. I am a writer by trade and many other things by passion. I’d say that I just go where life takes me, but that is far too Hallmark for my cynical sensibilities.

The truth is that by the time I was 25, I had: dropped out of college (twice), survived a war, bummed around Greenwich Village as a screenwriter, and already blown well passed my first million or so words before landing in Lancaster, Pennsylvania at a bar called Annie Bailey’s. From there, I cleaned myself up, dusted myself off, and started back on the road to writing for a living.

Now, I’m employed full time as a copywriter, and I typically put another five hours on top of that working my own projects. I write, I design, and get a few drinks in me and you’ll be regaled with numerous anecdotes. I’ve never had an idea that I thought was too big, and at the moment, I’m doing all I can to get them down in writing.


The Site

The site originally began as a step up from a blogspot blog back in the wild west that was the blogosphere in 2004. I had grown about as much as I figured I could on blogspot and I wanted something more representative of who I am. And unable to be content, I have upgraded and altered this site perhaps half a dozen times since then, including the complete removal of the database. To put it another way, when I first moved in here, WordPress was ramping up for version 1.5.

Now, I’ve finally settled on a site that I’m willing to work with. The end result is part personal experience, part professional advice, and all testament to my belief in the power of story. This website can (and frequently is) labeled as a writing site, but as I note on the front page, the focus is as often on the concepts and qualities of story as on the medium of writing.


The Phrase “Known Human”

While commonly used to in phrases that describe carcinogens and neolithic man, I happened upon this during the war when someone pulled out boxed seasons of the then-canceled animated series Futurama. Morbo, the overly aggressive alien tasked as the male on the evening news described Professor Farnsworth as a “known human,” and managed to pack a great deal of stress and distaste into those two little words.

I borrowed the phrase adding to it all the perceptions typically associated with the term human and haven’t put it down since.


The Astronaut Stencil

I’ve carried that stencil with me, in one size or color, in every incarnation of this domain since I started it nearly three years ago. The image is also reused on other social networks when I’m permitted to do actual design work.

Of course, there is a bit of a story behind what I affectionately refer to as “astrodude” – in that it’s a metaphor. The metaphor itself is rather cumbersome and existential, representing man’s isolation in the greater universe. The space suit being a self-contained environment, and unbelievably thin when compared to that vast emptiness of space also represents a measure of fragility or risk involve with the act of existing.

The medium, a stencil, is representative of today’s modern art scene – quick, dirty, working in a monotone offset by the background of the present, and easily ruined by mass production.


Fun Facts!

  • I am a proud Ubuntu user, though I typically design in Windows and own a Zune.
  • I am much taller in person.
  • I know my beers, whiskeys, and cigars.
  • Once, while at NTC, I stopped a Soviet tank by giving them the middle finger.
  • Why yes, I am writing a novel. Why do you ask?
  • Like raccoons, I am almost irresistibly attracted to shiny, new things.
  • My entire writing career has hinged on spell-check getting more intelligent.
  • My music collection is hovering in the low four digit range.
  • I’m the man who would risk his neck for his brother man, and yes, no one understands me but my woman.