How’d you come about discovery of your writing talent, gift or ability?
I started writing and drawing in high school, creating my own stories and characters for comic books. I originally wanted to be the next Jack Kirby or Stan Lee. I even went to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for one year, but my artistic talent never really panned out. I guess that’s why I became a writer instead.
I have been writing for more than 40 years, personally and professionally. As a military journalist in the U.S. Navy, I wrote news and feature articles about the sailors and commands I was assigned to. I have been published in newspapers and magazines, both civilian and military publications, across the country. My first novel, FOREVER AVALON, was published in 2009, THE DARK TIDES in 2014, and THE OUTLANDER WAR in 2020.
The inspiration for the FOREVER AVALON series came from late night “Dungeons and Dragons” sessions and extended deployments in the U.S. Navy. In the 80s, I spent my off-duty time playing DnD with my friends in an aircraft elevator machinery room. These late-night sessions, combined with missing my wife and children, led to dreams about being lost at sea and ending up on an island of magical fantasy. I had that same dream every time I deployed, and the dream continued to change as my family grew. On my last deployment in 2001, I decided to write down the aspects of my dream. The more I wrote, the more the story developed until I finished it. The funny thing is that as soon as I finished my novel, I stopped having the dream.
What have you sacrificed, if anything, to be a writer, or to write as you do?
My family is behind me 100 percent, even though my writing career has cost us time and money. I spend a couple hours every night toiling away at my laptop, writing or doing my own social media, while spending nearly $15,000 over 20 years for publishing, book fairs, traveling, merchandising, marketing, and writing conferences with less than $1,000 in sales. It’s hard for a writer trying to make a name for himself, and I wouldn’t be able to do it without the love and support of my family. They are why I am striving to be a published author, hoping that my successes will lead to a better life for us.
What are your future writing endeavors? What’s next on your authorship agenda?
I currently have three novels written and waiting to be published and one currently in the works. I have written THE PROMETHEUS ENGINE: Book 4 in the FOREVER AVALON Series, and two books in a new series called THE LAST MAGUS. It was actually one book at 189,000 words but I divided it into two books to make it flow better. My current work in progress is a steampunk historical fiction called CORSAIR AND THE SKY PIRATES. There is one more in the outline phase, but that’s so far off it’s not worth mentioning just yet.
I think it would be called “The Endless Rollercoaster of a Man Lost at the Amusement Park at the End of Time” because that’s how I feel some days. This whole writing journey has been like riding a roller coaster, with an endless run of ups and downs, personally and professionally.
The next book in the series is called THE PROMETHEUS ENGINE: Book 4 in the FOREVER AVALON Series. It picks up five years after the end of THE OUTLANDER WAR. Mordred, the immortal bastard child of Morgana le Fay, usurped the throne of Avalon. The only thing that stands in his way of total domination were the children of the Gil-Gamesh: Hunter, Rose, and Ashley. They have resisted Mordred’s reign at every turn with the Holy Order of Shield Maidens and the Elves of the Hîldrägo Boquè. They fight to reclaim the throne for King Bowen Pendragon and restore Avalon to the people. But Mordred schemes to bring down their resistance through the construction of an ancient magical artifact… The Prometheus Engine. Only the immortal king knows its secrets and the power it will bring him, no matter what the cost. The Gil-Gamesh and his allies race to uncover the engine’s secrets and discovered the truth behind Avalon’s Reclamation.
