According to a story I heard as a child, I entered the world in a taxicab flanked by a police motorcycle escort clearing the way to the hospital, sirens wailing.

Life as a military brat moving from one base to a new one every other year and growing up around soldiers taught me how to adapt to the unexpected and influenced my viewpoint of men, whom I have always appreciated, admired, and envied. I've never lost my attachment to nomadic lifestyles, nor my fascination with the warrior mentality and its manifestations; they influence my work to a very discernable degree. My dearest memories are of oceans, and  the time I spent wandering along shorelines and looking out to sea, meditating on infinite horizons, widened the scope of my thoughts and dreams.

My belief system is simple and nonsectarian. I merely try to do as little harm as possible to myself and others. I believe man is basically good, if only because it's less trouble than being bad. I believe that evil people are unhappy people, and that striving for happiness is the only real purpose to life. I consider time so precious that I can't bear having around me clocks that tick, reminding me of yet another moment forever lost; time is a thing to be cherished, not killed. As far as I know, all I have is the here and now.

Writing for me is a channeled process. The Muse bites, my fingers hit the keyboard, and then I just go with the flow. I've written short stories, poetry and essays, but feel most at home with the novel, where I examine the essence and nature of good and evil and love and hatred, especially when those entities and emotions mesh, collide, or transubstantiate.

I believe that some people are shaped by nature to be writers, and these people instinctively do everything possible within the limits of reason (and very often without) to make life an experiment toward a result that will change the world. It's important to go as many places, read as many good books, meet as many people, and try as many things as possible. It's absolutely crucial to strip away delusions and pre-judgments and set opinions of every kind. Seek, demand and accept only the best, especially in your reading; the old saying "garbage in, garbage out" couldn't be truer when it comes to books, and if you read only junk, junk is all you'll ever write, guaranteed. Consult this wonderful site for nourishing, life-enhancing literature.

Naturally, travel's an essential part of my life. I especially enjoy the art and culture of Europe, and have visited most of its capital cities and many out-of-the-way places as well. I try to spend part of every summer out in the American West, either in the Four Corners region or on the coast, and have a deep affection for the Rocky Mountains, the national parks of southern Utah, and the coastlines of northern California, Oregon, and British Columbia. I haven't done any really hard travel yet (i.e., to places where you need plague shots and can't drink the water, although Russia came pretty close), but Calcutta, Kathmandu and Cairo are places I'd like to see. Some of my favorite photographs, taken at home and abroad,  may be found here. This past summer I spent two unforgettable weeks in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Deep and abiding interests: literature of all types and times (my reading French is fluent, my Italian adequate, my German in serious need of work); all aspects of the 17th and 18th centuries; biography of significant/unusual historical figures; early and world music; any kind of dance; psychology; art and architecture; Native American cultures; archaeology; the Far East; ethnic food, good wine, and clever people, preferably in combination.

People keep asking me if I'll ever get any more books out, and I'm glad (relieved, actually) to say that the difficulties which thwarted my creative forces for all too long a time have finally untangled, and I'm feeling a new sense of energy and urgency. There's a prequel to WYSARD in the works, and a sequel to LORD BROTHER, and lots, lots more. My continued thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed me so far; kind words are blessings.