Hi,
everyone! Growing up in the American West shaped
the person and writer that I am today. I was born in El Paso, Texas, but raised
in Oklahoma City. As a young adult, I pushed myself to the west coast, living
first in San Diego and then Santa Barbara, California, where I earned a
Bachelor of Arts in Film at Brooks Institute of Photography in 1992. Later, I
relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada to complete my Masters in Education in 2005
through the University of Phoenix online program.
While I’ve earned a
paycheck working in insurance (25 years) and property management (15 years), I’ve always been committed to creative
expression. I gained a few credits in the entertainment industry, including the
management of “The Newport '69 Pop Festival” footage (Jimi Hendrix, Experience
Museum, Bill Gates) and video production for clients as varied as the Santa
Barbara Historical Museum, David H. Murdock’s Arabian horse farm, and a PSA for
the National Association of Handicapped Riders with Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
I began writing on
this book at the age of sixteen, pay attention
to my preface, and have several lifelong projects (Short stories,
Screenplays, Poems, and Novels).
Life seems to push
you in the direction it wants you to go, only to realize you’ve been on the
path you’ve needed to be on the entire way. I lost my father in 2001 to heart
disease, and my mother in 2010 to colon cancer. Most of my personal
relationships have been short-lived. I
did not officially come out as a gay man until I was thirty-four. I experienced
the dogmatic turmoil of being raised by a Catholic father, and a Church of
Christ mother, and being a gay child in the Bible belt of Oklahoma. I did
experience some of the sins of Los Angeles, if that’s truly what they were.
From an Oklahoma child’s perspective, some activities were certainly “sinful,”
but from the perspective of an adult who has truly learned to stand in the
presence of Angels, Christ, and God, those activities were not sins. My life is
His life.
While I did draw upon
my own personal experiences while writing this story, and do see myself in both
of the main characters, these two are very much their own, and they told me
their story. I have no idea where a lot of this came from; perhaps deep inside
of me, and perhaps from another realm of existence where dreams are created and
do come true in whatever way they can. I learned, as I hope you will learn,
through their realms of angelic existence. The closest novel to my heart has
always been “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles. I felt my characters the same,
bonding in their life’s experiences.
I have always forged
forward despite life’s attempts to keep me down and away from what I most
desire. I love animals and have been quite active with horses and animal
rescue. I have three beautiful sisters, seven awesome nieces and nephews, and
five grandnephews! I’ve met and made friends with some pretty spectacular
people.
My love for a
beautiful angel brought me back to my writing, and what I learned through this
(again) life long project, was that I have learned a lot about myself, life and
love. Mostly, I feel like I finally learned how to write. I’m very proud of
myself in its completion and am excited to finally become a published author,
even if it’s of my own making. When all else fails, just do it yourself!