A Medievalist and archaeologist by education, an archaeologist and writer by profession, I am now plunging into the uncertain waters of electronic publishing to express my fictional side. That is, the side of me that writes fiction, since I myself am nonfiction. Influences? Lovecraft, Bukowski, Burroughs (both), all the Beats, 80s horror films, 50s B-movies, history, and the world at large. /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} I like to get to the bottom of things.  My training has taught me that under an innocuous field may lie a vanished village, while turning over a simple stone may reveal ancient writing.  Finding the hidden under the surface is what archaeology is all about. It’s what writing is all about too.  What makes people do what they do, and feel what they feel?  It’s often hard to find that out in the real world, but building a character from the bottom up makes for a satisfying pastime because it takes the writer from cause to effect.  Like all writers I have been an avid reader since childhood and it wasn’t long before I took the ideas in my head and put them on paper. When I'm not writing, I like to explore the natural world.  I love hiking and have recently discovered the joys of caving.  I have yet to come across any monsters while exploring the underworld, however. I am the author of Murder at McMurdo, a mystery novella set in the Antarctic, coming out in April 2011 by LL-Publications.  Roots Run Deep, a fantasy novel published by Double Dragon, is my first published novel and the first in the House of Itxaron trilogy.