I'm a writer. I write a lot. I edit even more. It's not a hobby. It's not something I dabble in. It's compulsory. It's as involuntary as breathing. Unlike breathing, which comes naturally, writing and editing requires work, thousands of hours. It's my life's work, and I'd like to share it with people who love to indulge in stories, imagination, and discovering something about themselves in the books they read. I'm a photographer. I take pictures. I spend many hours editing them, not because I want to make people look their artificial best--which is easy with brushes and healing tools--but because I want them to see themselves the way I see them: candid, unique, worthy, and inspiring. I'm a pharmacist and I apply that knowledge and skill in the Information Technology and Patient Safety and Quality Departments of a health system in Mid-Michigan. I want to help, heal, and prevent harm and disease in my community. I do this because I believe compassion is the quality that transforms being human into being humane. I'm in a loving relationship with my husband, who sheds light into all the darkest corners of who I am and helps me appreciate and temper my strengths and weaknesses. It is by his steadfast love that I march forward into this bold way of living as an artist. I'm an adoptive father. As a gay man who comes from a large, loving family, procreating wasn't easily within grasp, but opening a place in my life for a family wasn't an option; it was a requirement. Raising a son has been the single most rewarding goal in my life. Of all the people I've met, befriended, or loved, my son taught me more about myself and life than anyone. It is his presence and the hard realities of parenting that matured me as a writer and as a humane person. Perhaps you will see these traits in my writing, characters, plots, and themes. I do.