I was born in southern California in 1958 to parents who believed in living life to the fullist, no matter the cost.  Starting in my early years we traveled all over California, and the rest of the United States.  Belonging to the Cub Scouts, then Boy Scouts, was a perfect excuse for weekend adventures, which included trips to mountains, state parks, beaches, and islands.  During this time, in an effort to get me to read more, my parents told me that if I were to read a classic novel of at least 200 pages, then pass a question and answer test afterwards, I would receive 50 cents.  This deal worked, and you soon didn't find me anywhere without my nose stuck in a book.  Of course, we were in southern California during the turbulant sixties, as well.  Many of the bad events helped to make me who I am.  All of these adventures (good and bad) coupled with my great memory and imagination helped me lay down those old memories for easy future retrieval.  When I was thirteen, my family moved to Lafayette, Indiana, near my father's home.  Over the next seven years, my brothers and  I worked in our Dad's business, "Barnett & Sons Electric".  Late into the week nights, and on most weekends, we worked at wiring businesses, and homes.  This wasa great time for character building, but we missed almost every school function with our friends.  I finished high school, then attended Purdue University, studying Electrical Engineering.  I had always done my best in english and writing courses, but felt my future was in the technical world.  After college, I moved to Texas, then New York, where I married my wife of 31 years, Michelle, and had our single daughter.  We soon moved back to Texas, and I remained employed in technical jobs; programmer, systems engineer, sales engineer, then IT manager.  Throughout all of this, my true love was always with reading.  Two years ago, my father died, and my younger brother began telling me that I needed to write a book about our eventful younger lives in California. I declined, but he persisted, and I finally gave in.  My first book took me a year to write, but it was well worth the effort.  I am so glad my brother pushed me off the cliff.