Words, stories, imagination these have always held an inate hold upon me since childhood.  The rythmic resonance of a well constructed sentence created a euphoric high within me that I, to this day, still find fascinating.  It is a precious gift that I am grateful for because of all the pleasurable moments I have experienced through reading and my through own writing.  To many in the world this is incomprehensible, but to another writer or avid reader it's quite understandable.  It's to you, the collective community of story and word lovers who understand the depth of this love, that I can relate. The greatest influence in my life is this inate love of books.  It compels me to read, to write, to search, to study, to know all there is to know about this wonderful gift of life.  Every precious moment is an opportunity to add to the reservoir of knowledge that will uncover the secrets of this mysterious universe.  Another writer once told me if you want to write then write and read everything you can get your hands on-- fiction, non-fiction, cover every discipline: science, philosophy, theology, language, and history.  Those words were heeded and they did help me write my first novel, "A Handful of Dust."  It took almost ten years because I did work another job while writing the book.  The discipline I learned from those words helped me research and create a story that readers can lose themselves in for what I hope is many pleasurable hours. Now that I've retired from working a secular job and can devote more time to writing, I've completed two new novels: The Seabury Connection and Stolen Light. Again I chose the time period of the 1930's which were a facinating time period. My hope is these stories will inspire and encourage one to think about the deeper meaning of life.