By training I'm an attorney and business consultant. I've always paid close attention to current events, and my writing is influenced by issues that I perceive to result in unintended negative consequences for the parties involved.  I read much more non-fiction than fiction, particularly political history and political biographies. Most iction I read is either in the spy genre, mostly Alan Furst, satirical fantasy, especially Terry Pratchett, and an occasional John Grisham and various others.  I've been married to the same great woman for over forty years. She's a social activist whose encouragement has moved me in directions I never dreamed of. My first novel to be published  - although not my first written - in the relatively near future, is drawn from my experience as a foster father, a role advocated by my wife and which it took some time for me to accept. We have three natural sons and have had five foster children, mostly teens, for various lengths of time. I sit on the board of a non-profit corporation that adminsters learning centers and after school programs for financially disadvantaged youth. Aside from writing, reading and famiy life, I enjoy travel, cooking, and playing bad golf, for which "enjoy" is a relative term.