Me walking our dear departed Lily (2003-2018) in our neighborhood in Palm Springs
Okay, this is the page that's just for those of you who wonder about the man behind the books.
First, the basics. I was born and reared in the small Ohio River town of East Liverpool, OH. I grew up with my parents and two sisters on the banks of the Ohio, 45 minutes west of Pittsburgh. My hometown is known for its pottery production and has been featured in the books, Mute Witness, Dead End Street, and Big Love. I attended Miami University in Oxford, OH and got degrees in both English (with Creative Writing emphasis) and Mass Communications. After graduating from college, I moved to Chicago, where I lived most of my adult life. Many of my books have been set in Chicago. The Windy City was very inspirational for me and still is. During my time in Chicago, I married and divorced. That union produced a son, Nicholas, who is now happily living in Vancouver, BC with his husband, Tarik. I have also lived in Tampa, FL, Miami, FL, and Seattle, WA.
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| Kodi |
My love for writing began with a passion for stories that began when I was probably about four years old. I wrote my first short story when I was about six years old, first play in fourth grade, and I kept my fifth grade classmates enthralled by reading to them aloud a serial novella I wrote about a young girl's kidnapping. My first publication came in 1991 with Obsessed in Dell's lauded horror line, Abyss. Penance quickly followed. Since then, I have been writing what I cared most about: gay themed romance and sometimes, romance with a dark twist. To date, I have more almost forty books in print, with digital-only shorts and novellas doubling that number.
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| Bruce and me hiking in the desert |
In what little spare time I have, my passion for stories continues with a deep and abiding interest in reading (I am never not reading a book, and my favorite authors include Flannery O'Connor, James Purdy, Patricia Highsmith, Stephen King, and Ruth Rendell). I also love stories told in the media of movies and theater. I was a theater critic for nine years with the Chicago weekly, Windy City Times.
Writing has always been the way I've made my living, and when not writing suspenseful, twisted tales, I plied my craft as an advertising copywriter for associations, catalogs, and ad agencies.
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| With son Nicholas (L) and son-in-law, Tarik, in Montreal. |
If you have any questions about me, drop me an e-mail and I'll do my best to answer them. I love hearing from my readers!
