An Introduction: Rapid Fire Style

Hello, Fire Enthusiasts.

First things first: Fire Enthusiasts? What the hell does that mean? Yeah, it’s a phrase that I started using back in the day, and I just kept it. Dance on Fire was my first novel, and I was gearing up to take over the world with it. That was about sixteen years ago. Did I take over the world? Nope. Still trying.

Okay, you probably didn’t ask for this, so let’s try and keep it fun and short. Rapid fire, anyone?

• Why do I write spooky stuff? Good question. I don’t really recall enjoying reading until I discovered scary books in my teens. I have been gobbling them up more or less ever since. I rarely watch horror movies these days. My wife certainly isn’t going to sit down to watch anything scary with me, so on those rare occasions I’d be relegated to watching on my trusty Mac with headphones on. I do have a framed The Exorcist poster in my library/office (mostly hidden behind the door), but you’re more likely to catch me watching An Affair to Remember or Notting Hill.

• I'm not that guy who wears black all the time. I do not wear black except for a couple of weeks in spring, a couple of weeks in fall or if I’m hiding beneath air conditioning thanks to our central California heat.

• I have all of those 70’s and 80’s heavy metal albums, but can also be caught rocking the Bee Gees, Manilow or Gene Pitney. Did you say “rocking” Manilow just now…?

• Favorite book? Something from Uncle Stevie, Slade or Barker, right? Nope. I previously mentioned that honor goes to Pat Conroy and his brilliant book, Beach Music.

• I’m a sucker for a good, haunted house story, but I go to church most every Sunday hoping never to meet one. No Ouija Boards in my home. Nope.

• Did you find a spider? I’m your guy. Snake? You’re on your own.

• I bet you can't wait until Halloween? Nope. I'm all Christmas. I start decorating as soon as my beloved Cowboys lose on Thanksgiving Day (hopefully not), and then keep it up until New Year's Day.

• Although I often chop and dismember characters in my fiction, my day job is protecting employees’ fingers and toes as their Safety Manager. I work for the World’s Favorite Raisin which is headquartered in my hometown. 

• I finally gave up on world building with my first novel. I decided if Uncle Stevie could use Bangor, Maine all of the time, why couldn’t I just use Kingsburg, Ca. You will find it on a map just south of Fresno. The actor Slim Pickens and athletes Rafer and Jimmie Johnson were from here. It’s also apparently a very haunted locale. I’m really going to have to explain that one of these days. grins

• I like my Starbucks Vanilla Lattes on those rare occasions, but usually just have coffee at home with French Vanilla-flavored creamer. On the road, I will have it however you are serving it.

• Concerts? I’ve seen many, including Matchbox Twenty, Def Leppard, Poison, Sammy Hagar, John Mayer, Pink, Scorpions, Van Halen and Kiss multiple times. Prince was probably the best, although Neil Diamond and James Taylor were also really good shows. As you can see I managed to get into a picture with Van Halen on the Balance Tour. That's me kneeling in the front.

• Broadway shows. We have season passes in Fresno for the touring versions. I haven’t been disappointed by one yet. We did see The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway once while visiting New York City. We saw Hamilton at the Pantages Theater in LA. I’ve seen Jesus Christ Superstar three times, including the anniversary one that had both Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson from the film. My favorite show is Wicked. “Defying Gravity” gets me every time. Some horror writer, huh?

• Meet anyone famous? I met Duff Goldman. He was visiting our company and putting on a bit of a cooking show for us. I paid to have Sam J. Jones sign my copy of Flash Gordon once, but we happily chatted for about 10-15 minutes since it was the end of his day and a bit slow. He was very cool to me and my oldest son, and when he heard I was in Safety, he asked me a lot of questions.

• Traveling? Why Yes. Once we hit the empty nest stage, we took the plunge with Italy in ’17 and loved it. My wife teaches, so summer is hot in Europe. On the other hand, shut up! You’re in Italy. We have since been to Scotland and Ireland in ’19; Germany and Prague in ’22; Spain and Portugal in ’23; Iceland in ’24; and England last summer. This year, Ireland. Potentially while you’re reading this.

Thanks for stopping by. I intend to keep these posts/articles short as we all have other places to be and only so much time in the day. This summer, I will begin working on book 7 which will be a return to my vampires. I will do my best to keep you coming back for more.

We’ll talk soon.