The Basics...

Profile
Height: 6' 1" Weight: 175
Types: Both hands (two fingers!)
Bats: Right 
Throws: Right
Married, 3 children
Home: New Jersey
Education: M.A., Communications, Regent University
Interests: Fly fishing, baseball, basketball, tennis

Books
1999 - First book 
Safe At Home-A baseball card mystery- slid into bookstores 

2000
Elves Can't Dunk delivers fun for Christmas in August 

2001
Hitting Glory hits homerun for readers

2004
Elves Can't Tackle smashes into bookstores

2005
Elves Can't Kick scores!

The Scoop on How I Got Started...

At the age of 25, I was quite miserable. You might even say depressed. I was in the middle of my first real job after graduating from college. I was in Sales. Not that's there's anything wrong with Sales…. But a few months into this job and I discovered that Sales was not for me. 

You see I was a marking device salesman. What's a marking device, you ask? Don't worry, many a marking device salesman has heard that question because a marking device businessman always refers to his product as a marking device - and no one is really quite sure what that means. And this is on purpose. 

A marking device is anything that makes an impression… You still look confused. All right! I'll tell you… a marking device is… a rubber stamp. I sold rubber stamps for a living, all right! There… As you can see, I probably didn't make much of an impression at all.

Like you, I never knew people actually made - or sold - rubber stamps. I always imagined elves made them. Before I go on I must clarify that the rubber stamp or marking device business is a fine one, indeed. It is also quite profitable and many good people earn their livelihood off the making and selling of rubber stamps. It just wasn't for me. 

Imagine a "handsome" young man meeting a nice young woman, as I often did. The question "what do you do?" comes up. I answer- "Um. I sell marking devices." The reply- "what's a marking device?" The routine goes on until I reveal the answer. Then the nice young woman goes away and talks to some Lawyer, Doctor or Movie Producer. Ugh. 

So as you now know, Sales wasn't for me. In addition to the product, I disliked the entire process and was very unhappy. So in my desperation for guidance I prayed. That's right, I prayed. And it works. At 25, I knew I had my whole career ahead of me and I didn't want to be stuck in any job that brought no fulfillment to my life. I discovered early that many of our lives are full, but they are not fulfilled -- they are an existence. A life that was purely an existence scared me to no end. 

Therefore, I prayed and asked God to reveal to me my God-given talent. I asked Him to help me discover it, develop it and use it for His glory. And He answered. 

About three months later, while watching a movie in a theatre, I noticed I wasn't watching the movie anymore. I was studying it. I was studying the characters, how the plot developed, the story. Around the same time, I started to get an interest in books. Prior to this time, I hated books, which meant I hated to read. Now, for the first time in my life I actually wanted to read. I even started getting ideas for stories of my own. I was now consumed with everything that dealt with writing and story telling. Something strange was happening to me. It was new. It was weird, but it was exciting. I felt God moving in my life and giving me a vision what to do with it. 

I told my Mom about what was happening. She reminded me of the A's that I received in grammar school in Creative Writing. Since the second grade and all during grammar school, I always did well in Creative Writing classes. It was usually my only A… Well, that and in Gym. Yet, as I grew older, these classes were no longer part of the core curriculum and Gym would remain the most outstanding mark on my report cards. Thank God for Gym! 

As "fate" would have it, I was reacquainted with writing once again during my freshman year in college in an English class. In the middle of the course, the professor boldly proclaimed… "Anyone who is even thinking about becoming a writer will only be dealt with a life of PAIN. Writing is PAIN," he said. At 18, I wanted to have FUN. PAIN was not something I wanted in any part of my life, especially if I could choose not to have it. After his speech, writing, it seemed, was the equivalent of sticking a sharp pencil in your eye - on purpose! Ouch! No thank you. 

Back to my Mom… A desire was birthing inside me to write. Ideas for stories started to come into my mind. These ideas were all exciting to me, except I didn't know what to do with them! I had no idea of how to write a story or any confirmation that this is what I was supposed to do. My Mom encouraged me to look into writing as a career and go back to school. "You always did well in those writing classes," she said. "That seemed to be your gift. Why don't you look into it?" My eyebrows raised in amazement that she brought it up and in disbelief in myself. "Mom, that was in second grade. I wrote about a monkey called Monkey Man visiting our class, stuff like that, not exactly Tom Clancy material," I responded with the wisdom of a 25 year old.

Then, I remembered that my Mom was usually… all right - ALWAYS right - so I looked into going back to school for a masters degree and focus on becoming a writer. By this time, I had forgotten about that PAIN word. Oh no. 

Fast forward… I was graduated from Regent University in Virginia four years later with an M.A. in Communications. I took my knowledge and started writing screenplays, short stories and books. 

Rejection. Rejection. Rejection. They arrived, one after another. With each one I could feel the hurt and disappointment digging deeper into my spirit and the flame of hope diminishing within my heart. That college professor was right. I was experiencing a life of PAIN. Am I talented? When will my chance come? Will it ever happen for me? The questions raced through my mind each time I dealt with rejection after rejection after rejection. 

Now for the good news! Six years later, at age 34, with six long years of PAIN, perseverance, rejection, self-questioning, praying, writing and rewriting, hurt, disappointment, more praying, more rewriting and more rejection behind me (Oh, and did I mention PAIN and PERSEVERANCE? Yes, I did) I raced home from work. The UPS man had delivered something very special to my house: my first children's novel, Safe At Home - A Baseball Card Mystery - hot off the presses from the publisher! 

A feeling of accomplishment, blessing and gratitude filled my entire being. It happened. To me! My dream came true. I do have some talent. My chance did come! Yes! 

One year later, 2000, Elves Can't Dunk, a story I worked on for almost 6 years, was published. I guess perseverance pays, huh? 

And the best news of all is, IF IT HAPPENED TO ME - IT CAN HAPPEN TO YOU!