I was born in England to parents who'd recently moved from Belfast. They were on their way to Tasmania, but that's another story (life). I'm the second of five children—two brothers, two sisters. Since studying Classics at college I've moved around a bit. I taught English for a year in Lisbon, had a short, dull career in reference publishing, and traveled in India, Australia and New Zealand. Then in early 1996 I ended up in Hong Kong, on a nice little island called Lamma. My experience of living and working in Hong Kong are the substance of my novella, Handover. From Hong Kong I moved direct to Eugene, Oregon (cue culture shock!) where I studied for an MFA in Creative Writing. Back in London, I taught, wrote, and met my lovely wife Karen who's from Louisville Kentucky. She brought me back to America, first to New Jersey (where we both still work at Rutgers) then to Allentown, PA. That about brings me up to date.