I’m afraid you’ve found t'he obligatory “about me” page.

 

I was born in Washington, DC, an unconscionably long time ago. I’ve been a fast food restaurant manager, a kennel worker, a telemarketer, a high-dollar fundraiser, a real estate agent (I wasn’t any good at it at all), an office manager for a nonprofit organization, and a freelance writer/editor/graphic designer. I've also lived, worked, and/or studied on St. Croix, in the US Virgin Islands; in the Chicago area; in rural Vermont; in Ontario, Canada; and now in Florida, at least for the time being.

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My interests are, to put it mildly, eclectic. I’m seriously into science; science fiction; literary fiction with a few macabre elements in it (think Shirley Jackson: horrible humor); spirituality, psychology, and human sexuality; and wild, silly, smart humor. I’ve garnered a good deal of respect as a nonfiction writer and a religion scholar. Physically, I’m a bearded Friar Tuck, complete with matching bald spot; Myers-Briggsically, I’m an INXJ. 

 

According to an old Yakut proverb, “Smiths and shamans come from the same nest.” Both possessed esoteric transformative knowledge; both were masters of fire. And in Celtic lore, Brighid was the patroness not only of blacksmiths but of shamans and healers, and of poets and writers as well. As Mircea Eliade put it,

 

The shaman is the original poet, the tribal myth-maker who pulls up a “secret language” from the depths of ecstasy: the hidden roots of language.

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Writers try to perform a similar alchemy with words, transforming the static and awkward into the powerful and lucid. At least, that's what I think writing is about. 

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As I noted above, silliness is perfectly fine, too. There's not nearly enough silliness in the world. And I am a very silly person indeed, as you'll no doubt discover as you read more of my blathering.

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• If you'd like to become a beta reader, or see new pieces before the rest of the world does, or win prizes (some of which are actually worth something!), click here.

• If you'd like to read some of my current, not-yet published essays, stories, book chapters, research, poetry, reviews, and philosophical debates, plus some cartoons, memes, and videos just to lighten things up a bit, please click here.

• If you'd like to buy me a coffee, please click here.

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Thanks,

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