My love of fantasy began when I was very young, hearing simple tales like "Hansel and Gretel" or "Jack and the Beanstalk."  When I was an adolescent, my interest in fantasy grew with the reading of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic The Hobbit.  By the time I transitioned into The Lord of the Rings, I was hooked.

I think that fantasy is an essential genre of writing because it lets us delve into worlds that we aren’t familiar with but are quite intrigued by.  There is, of course, a danger in letting our minds go into such worlds, and not all fantasy is good fantasy.  Writers have a responsibility in crafting stories where truth cuts through the fiction and where readers can feel comfortable returning to such worlds again without feeling guilty about what they’ve read.

My favorite fantasy stories (in addition to Tolkien’s works) include The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.

I work as a computer programmer by day and a fantasy writer by night.  My wife and I live in Indianapolis, IN.  We have one beautiful daughter, Elora Aerith.  We also have three cats along with an ever-changing number of fish.