A quick tour of my long and winding road
I learned the basics of this art and trade from being around two great writers, Nelson Algren and Kurt Vonnegut. I was an MFA student at the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and though the school was everything it has become celebrated for, the paradox of my situation got to me: I was a 21, a "novelist" pounding the keys for hours a day, isolated, lonely, inexperienced. I need more life, a lot of it, before I would feel comfortable settling into this career.
I left Iowa without a degree and went to New York, where I got work in the "reality" documentary film scene, as a production assistant, then a sound recordist, then an editor.
Then, around 1967, like everyone else, I went a little crazy.
than left New York for Boston, where I made an abrupt career change and worked for 5 years as a professional musician, in rock bands in the Boston - Cambridge area. (Believe me, THAT'S a lot of life experience.) In those years I supplimented my income as a feature journalist and a freelance corporate film and video writer/producer--again, a good way to develop "chops" as a fiction writer.
After some years spent as a film
For a few years my wife and I lived in Los Angeles, where I learned the screenwriting trade. We had two children, and in 1989, moved to North Carolina, where we've lived in my childhood home for 20 years. During that time I published two novels and a memoir (see right sidebar).
After 12 years of teaching fiction writing (at UNC and NCSU), I looked at how digital media had developed and realized that, with my freelance skills, I could run my own teaching and coaching practise, at my own computer, and that is pretty much what I do.
My mom and dad were married during World War 2. When my dad was killed, not long after this picture was taken, my mom was pregnant with me.
Am I glad it worked out this way. You bet I am. I love working one-on-one with my clients--even if we've never met. (I've worked with clients in such far-flung locations as Alaska, Qatar, and the Phillipines). Has it make me a better writer or teacher? Yes, absolutely. And this, I can pass along to you.
If you'd like to explore the details of working with me, please check out my FAQ page, where I get down to specifics. I also invite you to visit Truevoice, the Blog, where I post about fiction writing issues three or four times a week.