EARLY LIFE Rick was born in Ventura, California in 1966 and moved to Northern California shortly thereafter. The first 12 years of his life were spent in a fairly rural area of the upper Napa Valley. He rode horses, had chickens and goats, and pretty much lived in the woods that surrounded his home. When Rick was 12, his family moved to Napa proper where he attended a private school through 10th grade. He attended Napa High School his junior and senior year where he played football before joining the Marine Corps in 1986. CAREER ​ Once Rick graduated boot camp, he was assigned to the third battalion first Marines where he almost immediately deployed on a Westpac. His job at the time was an anti-tank gunner or 0351 for you Jarheads out there. When he returned to the States, he transferred to STA (Surveillance Target Acquisition) Platoon. Rick deployed one more time before his separation from active duty. After the Marine Corps, Rick returned to Napa where he put myself through a basic police academy while washing cars after school and on the weekends in order to survive. Law enforcement jobs were scarce back in the early 1990s so he went to work for a small, yet extremely violent, town called East Palo Alto (EPA). Rick worked in EPA for a little under three years before making a lateral move to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. While at the Sheriff’s Office, he worked in a Street Crimes Suppression Team, SWAT, Narcotics, and Homicide. Rick promoted to Sergeant and worked several other positions in that rank until being promoted to Lieutenant. As a Sheriff’s Lieutenant, he worked his final two years in law enforcement as a team Lieutenant in the jails. WRITING Rick's interest in writing reared its head in 1994 while he was working the graveyard shift in the Maguire Correctional Facility shortly after being hired by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. He taught myself to write screen plays during that time and wrote several feature lengths scripts. He never pursued the sale of any my screenplays and ultimately decided to write a novel after realizing how many constraints are placed on screenplays. As he neared the end of his career in law enforcement, Rick began writing his first book that ended up having several names before finally turning into “A World Slowed.” FAMILY While working in Homicide, Rick met his wonderful wife who was working for the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office at the time. RIck and his Wife have three children—-each of them so special, captivating, funny, and hard working. His family is his legacy. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies (or at least the preview to movies, which drives his wife crazy) and playing hockey. There's nothing like a hockey-loving-Napa-boy to confuse traditional hockey players.