The greatest thing that ever happened to me was my awful childhood.  I had no choice but to get angry, rebel and follow my path to becoming an artist.  My first duty as an artist was to cultivate obsessions.  I proceeded to do this with gusto and learned that there is no substitute for a good obsession, compulsion or addiction to gain insight into human nature.  I managed to stay out of jail (except for a single night when the Detroit police busted every doper in town in 1967), and I managed to stay out of the loony bin (except for two months during the Vietnam war, a good decision on the part of everyone involved).  Of course it was a girl who inspired me to write poetry.  It wasn't until I was twenty six that I realized I could write novels.  Prior to that I had been a jazz  musician, a drummer/keyboard player/composer devoted to John Coltrane and his ilk.  I figure the description "artist" covers whatever medium is inspiring at the moment.  Writing is really the refuge of my "later" life,after forty.  It took me that long to wear out the obsessions.  They had really gotten out of hand.  Not that I regret a single one.  Part of a writer's apprenticeship is to spend at least twenty years being mentally deranged, so I get to have my ticket punched on that one.  Did I tell you I love astronomy?  Oh, I love astronomy! I got some lovely recognition as a photographer by doing creative work at night with cameras.  Please visit my photo website. I make about half a living doing photography.  Writers don't want to hear about my books.  They want to hear about their own books.  If you're a reader, however, you might find my oeuvre interesting.  I love science fiction, literary fiction, Rumi's poetry, travel, history, dogs and cats and my wife, who is half Apache.  She can be very eerie when she goes dipping into the shaman's world.  She invokes the spirit helpers called  "The Grandmothers".  Those ladies have helped us out of a lot of jams.  Those stories are in the travel memoir AVOIDING THE POTHOLES: RV JOURNEYS IN A CHANGING AMERICA.  My younger and musical life is described in CONFESSIONS OF AN HONEST MAN.  And every thing else I either know or don't know is in the sci fi epic THE GODS OF THE GIFT.  Oops, there I go talking about my books.  Sorry,writers.  Tell me all about yours!

I won Playboy Magazine's Best Story Of the Year
Award. I've been published in EXQUISITE CORPSE,
and I contribute regularly to Shutterbug Magazine.