I’m the middle son of five boys. My two older brothers are eleven and thirteen years older so I have more characteristics of and oldest child like compassion, patience, long suffering from my older and younger siblings. Mom and Dad wanted a second set of kids I was the first of that clan.
I love dirt, the smell, the way it feels in my hands, the richness it brings to plant life, and the way it’s carved away by water. My love of plants, trees, and the outdoors comes from my mother who was always outside digging, weeding, and making our home beautiful. She did it because she loved it.
I started reading at the age of twenty eight. It isn’t that I couldn’t read I just didn’t like it or at least I thought I didn’t. I set a goal my twenty eighth year to read a book a week. I read exactly fifty two books that year. My love of books has continued to grow. One fall early morning I woke up at three in the morning. I started to write in a spiral bound notebook and could not stop. My wife woke up a few hours later and found me writing. Someday I will share with the world that story I started. For now it’s composting in a drawer somewhere. Good earth for compost makes for great stories.
Eleven years after I graduated from high school I received my undergraduate degree in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from Utah State University. Those were great years. Staying up late in the studio working on cool projects with great friends till the next morning when they were due then crashing all the next day. Good times. I learned how to make my Chewbacca noise while at USU.
Eleven years later I graduated with my master degree in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University. I took a year off in the middle to clear out some cobwebs found floating around in my skull. If it wasn’t for Claire Rudolf Murphy and my lovely wife Vicki I would not have returned. I did return and made more great friends. My critical thesis was on Maps a Writer Resource. I love maps in books they are incredible ways to follow along with the any story and as a writer they can aid in the writing process.