Biography
Having been born in England but lived most of my life in the United States (my parents emigrated when I was young) I feel that I have one foot in each country. From England has come my love of history and culture, and from America my love of wild places and nature. My parents instilled me with a passion for reading. I devoured the lost-race novels of H. Rider Haggard, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s tales of Sherlock Holmes, C. S Forester’s Horatio Hornblower sea stories, and the science fiction of Andre Norton, Hal Clement, Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, and Lester Del Rey. I read many authors, both the well-known and the nearly forgotten.
Although I enjoyed writing in college, the demands of medical school, residency, and then practice left no time for writing. But I believe the sub-conscious urge to create in this manner was always latent, and when my job situation changed in 1990 and gave me much more free time, the urge rose to the surface. I tried my hand with short stories, producing two thick binders of mostly unpublishable works. After much trial and error, I began finding markets for my fiction, and my short stories have appeared in Thema, Journal of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, New Oxford Review, Mindlfights, St. Anthony Messenger, St. Linus Review, Haruah, Hereditas, Physician Magazine, Dreams and Visions, Lost Worlds, Galactic Citizen, Burning Light, Dusk & Dawn, Time Pilot, Show & Tell, Mediphors, and Writers’ International Forum. I have also contributed short stories to the anthologies Sky Songs and Sky Songs II (Skysong Press, 2002 & 2005, ed. Steve Stanton), Your Peacemaking Heart (ed. Ruth Greenslade), Fungi #20, 21 ,22 (ed. Pierre Comtois), "Infinite Space Infinite God II" (ed. Karina Fabian), "Tails from the Front Lines" (ed. Rebecca McFarland Kyle), "The Tanist's Wife and Other Stories of Alternative History" (ed. Isobel Mason), "Rejected" (ed. Brian Woods), "Misunderstood" (Ed. Rebecca McFarland Kyle and Tracy Bitonti) and "Legends of Sleepy Hollow" (Ed. David Neilsen.)
I also began writing non-fiction articles, some medically-related and others not, and my non-fiction articles have appeared in New Oxford Review, The Catholic Response, This Rock, Lay Witness, Medical Economics, PostGraduate Medicine, Physician, JAMA, Christianity and the Arts, The Christian Communicator, Ethics & Medicine, Historic Traveler, Relax, Medical Problems of Performing Artists, Christian Library Journal, Forefront (now Desert Call), CMDS Journal, Journal of the Christian Medical Society (UK), Medecine des Arts (France), and Writer’s Forum. To date I have over one hundred-fifty publication credits including a chapter in Staying Fit After Forty by Don Otis (Harold Shaw, 2001)--something I find harder and harder to do, although I continue my quest to run a marathon in every state!
At some point, the desire to write a novel came to me (as it comes to all aspiring writers), and I began with science fiction before branching out into historical fiction. My first novel was Red Planet Rising (Crossway Books, 1995), followed by Imperial Legions (Broadman & Holman, 2000), and Iron Scepter (Xlibris, 2001). A book of short stories about saints of the Roman Empire, Saints Alive! New Stories of Old Saints, Vol.1: Saints of Empire, was released by Bezalel Books in 2013 followed by Vol. II: Celtic Paths in 2014. My novel, Ring of Time (Splashdown Books, 2014) combines my love of science fiction and historical fiction in telling the adventures of a future historian in the Roman Empire. The DeathCats of Asa'ican and Other Tales of a Space Vet and Wreaths of Empire (Splashdown Books 2015) are also science fiction, as is the recent Farhope under my own Far Wanderings imprint. A branch into supernatural fiction led to three collections of short stories, What Darkness Remains, In Death Survive, and Tales from the Brackenwood Ghost Club.
My interest in Celtic Christianity led to the obtaining of an MA in Celtic Christianity from the University of Wales, and then to co-authoring a devotional, Walking with the Celtic Saints (Crossroad, 2004).
I had stints as editor of articles and columns for Christian Library Journal from 1998-2003; was contributing editor to The Christian Communicator from 1998-2000; was a book reviewer for Ethics & Medicine. I am a former member of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and current member of the Author’s Guild.
Writing led me, somewhat reluctantly, into speaking, where my experience includes the 1996 Seattle Pacific University Christian Writer’s Conference; the 1996 International Conference on Medicine and the Arts in Lyon, France; local high school and college classes; and book clubs.
I still read--mostly non-fiction these days, as I pursue interests as varied as archaeology and ancient civilizations on one hand, and popular level physics and cosmology on the other. History is fascinating, and so is our universe.
I still practice medicine. My wife, Olivia, is a veterinarian. She is my inspiration and also the wielder of a fine editorial pencil. Her input helps me immensely. We enjoy travel--particularly to my homeland--classical music, and hiking with our German Shepherds, Rex and Lady.
And I continue to write--there is always a project underway. Writing gives a profound satisfaction that I hope comes through in each new work. And if I can share a portion of what excites and interests me, or stimulate a reader to think, or even just provide an evening’s enjoyment, then I am content.