My somewhat circuitous career path began with an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Stanford University (with a concentration on creative writing) and meandered through work as a jewelry designer, musician, and health-food store owner before I became fascinated by the promise and challenge of Artificial Intelligence. This led to a study of computer science leading to a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of New Mexico, and a career as a consultant, textbook author, teacher (including a wonderful stint as a visiting professor at Dartmouth College). I joined Sandia National Laboratories in 1995 and worked there until leaving the labs to pursue my life-long love of creative writing, music, and the guitar. My writing tends toward speculative fiction since it lets me explore the intersection of the scientific and poetic, and because so much of my thinking was shaped by early science fiction masters. Although much of our culture treats the scientific and poetic as sharply distinct, the beauty and elegance of the natural world as revealed by science rivals even the finest poetry.