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BIOGRAPHY
I grew up in a home filled with books, spending much of my free
time reading adventures created in the minds of some extremely
talented authors. I’ve known many writers who say they knew at
a young age they wanted to write, but I never thought of being a
writer until I attended college and had to declare a major. I took a
look at the subjects I excelled in and enjoyed and found they
were all my writing and literature classes.
So, being a practical Midwesterner and needing to support
myself I figured the best way to do that as a writer was to major
in journalism. I worked as a reporter and then editor at my
college paper, interned at my hometown’s newspaper, the
Peoria Journal Star, and learned as much as I could before
venturing out into the real world.
As soon as I graduated from Eastern Illinois University I moved
overseas to the South Pacific to work for a television news
organization. In college I said I would never work in television
news since I didn’t consider it real journalism. Of course the real
world was quite different and I needed a job. I spent two years
anchoring the nightly news and won an ACE award with our
news team for typhoon coverage. While overseas, I learned the
ins and outs of television news, dove some of the most beautiful
dives in the Marianas Islands, made friends I still have today, and
got a great tan. I also learned to never say never.
But two years away from home was enough and so I moved back
to the states where I traveled across the country from California
to Florida. After all that traveling, I finally landed a job in South
Florida. I worked for a newspaper in Stuart, Florida for a few
years covering local government. I eventually moved to West
Palm Beach where I was offered a job in the Public Affairs Office
for Palm Beach County. After working there for a few years, I
realized I actually enjoyed working in public relations. Plus, the
job had the added benefit of regular hours, health benefits, and
an actual pension which appealed to that practical Midwesterner
in me.
Just about this time, Palm Beach County decided to start its own
television station, and I was offered the station manager’s job. It
was during this time in South Florida that I seriously began to
consider writing murder/mysteries. I had produced a number of
television programs with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office,
and working with the deputies, detectives, crime scene unit
officers, medical examiner and State Attorney gave me an insight
into their work and a wealth of ideas for stories.
Today, I live in the metro Atlanta area. Still needing a regular
paycheck, I work in public relations full time and write novels in
my spare time.
I grew up in a home filled with books, spending much of my free
time reading adventures created in the minds of some extremely
talented authors. I’ve known many writers who say they knew at
a young age they wanted to write, but I never thought of being a
writer until I attended college and had to declare a major. I took a
look at the subjects I excelled in and enjoyed and found they
were all my writing and literature classes.
So, being a practical Midwesterner and needing to support
myself I figured the best way to do that as a writer was to major
in journalism. I worked as a reporter and then editor at my
college paper, interned at my hometown’s newspaper, the
Peoria Journal Star, and learned as much as I could before
venturing out into the real world.
As soon as I graduated from Eastern Illinois University I moved
overseas to the South Pacific to work for a television news
organization. In college I said I would never work in television
news since I didn’t consider it real journalism. Of course the real
world was quite different and I needed a job. I spent two years
anchoring the nightly news and won an ACE award with our
news team for typhoon coverage. While overseas, I learned the
ins and outs of television news, dove some of the most beautiful
dives in the Marianas Islands, made friends I still have today, and
got a great tan. I also learned to never say never.
But two years away from home was enough and so I moved back
to the states where I traveled across the country from California
to Florida. After all that traveling, I finally landed a job in South
Florida. I worked for a newspaper in Stuart, Florida for a few
years covering local government. I eventually moved to West
Palm Beach where I was offered a job in the Public Affairs Office
for Palm Beach County. After working there for a few years, I
realized I actually enjoyed working in public relations. Plus, the
job had the added benefit of regular hours, health benefits, and
an actual pension which appealed to that practical Midwesterner
in me.
Just about this time, Palm Beach County decided to start its own
television station, and I was offered the station manager’s job. It
was during this time in South Florida that I seriously began to
consider writing murder/mysteries. I had produced a number of
television programs with the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office,
and working with the deputies, detectives, crime scene unit
officers, medical examiner and State Attorney gave me an insight
into their work and a wealth of ideas for stories.
Today, I live in the metro Atlanta area. Still needing a regular
paycheck, I work in public relations full time and write novels in
my spare time.
