I grew up in Baldwinsville, New York, where the winters are long and cold but the summers are green and warm. The Finger Lakes, the Seneca River, and the Thousand Islands were my playgrounds. After finishing a bachelor’s degree in computer science from SUNY Oswego, I moved south to the Washington, DC area. Seven years of fighting traffic and keeping up with the Joneses and I was ready for the slower pace of Raleigh, North Carolina. As an added benefit, the chances for seeing snowflakes this far south are slim. Despite having been gone from Baldwinsville for more than three decades, I still long for home. Not the high taxes, piles of snow, or never ending winters. It’s the people, clear waters, greens of summer, food, change of season, and the history. No I won’t be moving back, my wardrobe just wouldn’t work. My closet is full of Hawaiian shirts and my dresser stuffed with shorts and swimsuits. Seldom do I have to wear a winter coat. Nope, my blood’s way too thin to live north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Raleigh is even too busy these days, I’ve slowed even more. I’m still a software engineer by day, slaying bugs with my trusty keyboard and mouse. But now I live on a lake way out of the city, where I write stories to entertain by night. I promise these stories will always, always, always have a happy ending. As I see it, there is enough bad stuff happening in the world and in our own lives. When I watch a movie or read a book, I do it to smile. If I want something bad, all I have to do is turn on the news or pick up a newspaper.