​I might have only been three or four years old at the time. I couldn’t even read yet, but I didn’t care, and most importantly, neither did my mom. She bought me that book, and many others in the years following, reading the comics to me and teaching me the letters and words until I could read them by myself. By the time I was five years old, I was the only kid in kindergarten who could spell “Spider-Man.”

 

Fast forward to a late weekend night in the fall of 1975, when I snuck downstairs to watch TV while my parents were sound asleep. As fate would have it, a new show premiered on NBC that night called “Saturday Night Live” (perhaps you’ve heard of it). That show featured young comedic actors doing sketches and pushing the boundaries of comedy. Again, I was hooked... and laughing. In fact, I laughed so hard that I woke up my parents. They were not happy, and I suffered the consequences, but I didn’t care. I had found a new hero, and his name was John Belushi.

 

So, my first two loves were comic books and comedy. Later came baseball, cars, and girls, but not necessarily in that order. My claim to fame in high school was being voted “Class Clown” by the class of 1982. See, I told you I was old.

 

I started writing short stories when I was a freshman in college. Back then... I mean way, WAY back then, you either wrote stories longhand or used a thing called a typewriter. Surprisingly, my stories were pretty good (at least, that’s what my college professors told me). But I didn’t write for recognition. I wrote because I enjoyed crafting stories and creating new characters. It was fun, and for a guy who grew up among cows and corn, I knew fun was hard to come by.

 

After college, I had to get a job, because if you want to eat, have a roof over your head, or not get arrested for vagrancy, that’s what you do. My professional career, if you want to call it that, has taken many twists and turns. Here is a complete list: Pizza delivery, Factory Worker, US Army Reservist, Security Police, Radio DJ, Computer technician, Security Manager, EMT, Trivia host, Cable guy, and Civil Servant.

​

So now, I'm retired and writing full-time. I've had a lot of jobs. Some were good, some were bad. For the longest time, I'd dreamed about what it would be like to get up every day, and do something I truly loved. Well, after many years of working for "the man," I'm doing that now.