For some seventeen years, I lived in a small beach-house I called The Writing Rock, located on Estero Island, better known as Fort Myers Beach, FL. Typically I spent Oct-May writing and editing my thrillers and enjoying the great Southwest Florida weather. The rest of the time I periodically packed up my toys aboard “White Fang,” my customized, Toyota FJ Cruiser, and set up camp at special spots to write and enjoy nature. Two or three times a year I visited my kids and their families and stopped in on old friends.
These days I live in a fifth-wheel RV, parked during the Winter at the recreation area of MacDill Air Force Base in South Tampa. Summers I move the rig to Atlanta where most of my kids and their families reside and enjoy their company and witnessing their routines.
As far as education is concerned, I obtained a masters degree in Resource Development from Michigan State University, and after a stint as an officer in the USMC, a graduate degree in International Management and Finance. Business-wise, I spent some sixteen years in investment banking and small business consulting. And then the forks in the road: divorce and the search for meaning.
My career melted away in the face of disillusionment and the question of worthy purpose. I studied yoga, the science of oneness with God, and made a living as a professional waiter. The search for meaning never brought me back to climbing a corporate ladder. Moving from place to place as I was led, I remained celibate–as I am today–immersed in understanding the nature of reality. The sojourn led me to discover the simplicity and self sufficiency of living aboard a thirty-foot sailboat, and gave me a treasure trough of experiences.
When I settled my boat in the back-bay of Fort Myers Beach in 1998, the writing started. Training and combat experience in Viet Nam as a USMC officer, the ongoing search for meaning, a survivalist’s mentality, and the many and varied challenges I experienced in business and finance, are the eternal springs that I hope add flavor, depth, and authenticity to my writing.