About

I have always had a passion for storytelling. Perhaps what first sparked my love of writing, though, was entering an elementary school book contest, where I won the prestigious “Participation Award.” I may not have won big, but something about that experience just felt right. Ever since then, I’ve continued to write, imagining alternate worlds and meeting the new people I find living in my stories.

I finished my first science fiction novel, Pallen Drale: Convergence, in 2023, and I’m currently looking at getting it published. Now, I am working on the next novel and a handful of short stories. My writing and teaching values diversity, inclusion, community, identity, and how much we can accomplish when we work together.

I have a PhD in English with a focus on cultural studies and composition from Old Dominion University. I received my master’s degree in English: Literacy, Technology, and Professional Writing, and my bachelor’s degree in Liberal Studies: Enterprise in Society from Northern Arizona University. I have a certificate in Creative Writing and an associate degree from Yavapai College. It was there that I published my first short story, “Damn Crop Spoilers,” in their creative arts magazine,  Threshold, in 2006. I was also the Associate Editor of the college newspaper, The Rough Rider, in 2006. Since then, I have written several academic publications and have presented at a variety of academic and professional venues.

I am an instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, where I teach courses in science fiction, composition, and film. I love seeing that spark in a student’s eyes when they learn something new, and I love showing them that writing isn’t really all that scary. I have also worked as an administrator at Yavapai College since 2010 where I help students take their first steps down the path of education that I, myself, have enjoyed so much. In my first career, long, long ago, I was a lead guitarist in a nü metal band in Phoenix, Arizona.

Today, I live in Prescott, Arizona with my wife, son, and three fur babies. I love to write, read just about anything, watch films, play guitar, listen to metal music, jog, and play Dungeons and Dragons campaigns with my friends and family.