(From the authors website): Born at some point in the past, I grew up to love music and books. As a child I played drums (a massive 12 piece set with 8 toms, modeled after Neil Pert’s set). My parents, when they were coherent, would have me play songs at parties. At age five I was playing Metallica (not too hard to believe. Lars is their drummer, after all) and Guns & Roses. As I got older, I started moving into my own music, diving into System of a Down, Linkin Park, Godsmack, and other bands that were popular at that time. Music was an escape from the issues I had to grow up seeing. When I was frustrated with life or just felt like laying down some mad beats, I could go out in the garage, crank the PA, and just play. Soon, my house got repossessed, and I lost a place to play my drums. (Which actually caused me to form several bands in the country with my cousin and people a few years older than me. Needless to say, I started drinking at a young age.) Since my house was gone, I started to focus on my acoustic guitar and reading. I read before this, of course, but around that age I really started diving into all things literature and science. I read up on the classics like Moby Dick and Hemingway, but I also started my love affair with fantasy and sci-fi, reading Asimov and Phillip K. Dick and Pat Rothfuss. I also started reading about Evolution and how the universe works. (I am plagued with wanting to know what is true and real in the world, a path that has ultimately led me to an agnostic/atheistic viewpoint of life. Though, I respect other ways of seeing things.) A few years later I started writing seriously. It had never occurred to me to try and write for a living. My focus had been music for so long, it was like a sudden revelation when my wife suggested it (she normally has the best ideas). So, I started researching how to write better and how to get published. I started a few novels, wrote some stories, and even finished a book (which I later published, only to take down ;)) Since all of that, I have published 3 full length novels, a couple short stories, and have started several different websites under different pen names. I have since taken all of that down and started this website which is my most honest and real attempt at being a writer in today’s world. Why? Because after much research, writing practice, and focus (not to mention help from the guys at the Self Publishing Podcast and A Newbies Guide to Publishing), I finally feel like I have enough grasp of what it takes to be a full-time author and do right by readers. And that is really the only goal…to give something back to the community that helped me survive a rough childhood, stories people can escape to and learn from (and maybe some music too). I promise, I will try my best!