I called 20 years of journalism quits after helping make a pregnant giraffe become YouTube’s second-most watched live video, and moved east to live closer to my wife’s parents so our kids could know their Granny and Papa as they grew up. I am now a student in the Writing for Children & Young Adults program a the Vermont College of Fine Arts, a stay-at-home dad, and work part-time at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, where, among my other duties, I coordinate young adult Dungeons & Dragons, writing, and book clubs. I’m also known to hang out with the chess club now and again.

In addition to reading and writing, I love to get outdoors with my wife, twin boys, Ben and Ollie, and our fur babies, particularly exploring the national parks. I’m an avid Minnesota hockey fan. In the Before Times, I had a successful travel blog and adventured quite extensively, self-publishing two travel memoirs as I hit all seven continents with plans to retrace many of my steps once I got married.

Following up my undergrad from the University of Minnesota, I graduated from the University of Denver’s Creative Writing master’s program, and have continued my creative education with, in addition to VCFA, classes at the Highlights Foundation. I’m a member of the Buffalo-Niagara Children’s Writers and Illustrators group and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, for which I volunteered as West/Central New York’s Regional Advisor and Co-Assistant Regional Advisor. I was also selected to participate in the 2023 Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers Association‘s mentee program, and am a NASA Social alumnx.