About the author

Bowdoin College chapel after a snowfall.

My background

I'm an aspiring Adult science fiction and fantasy writer. I also have some non-fiction ideas that I want to pursue, but my research time is pretty limited at the moment. Originally from Maine, but I've lived all over, having chosen homelessness over captivity. I'm a middle aged dad and therefore a professional worrier. My goal in life is to give my kids a better future than my past, and access to paths other than the one I chose.

A lone camel atop a sand dune deep in a desert.

Why I write

I write, because when you have a distinct accent like mine, it's a disadvantage, but when you have a distinct voice as a writer that's an advantage. Writing is also an exercise in empathy. It invites you to put yourself in the shoes of someone different from you, in a situation that you haven't experienced personally. Finally, frankly the world is mind-blowing, scary, confusing, enthralling, beautiful, hideous, soul-crushing and a constant font of hope. Writing for me is a way to make sense or at least reach acceptance of the world around me.

A collection of Bulgarian language books and dictionaries.

Influences

I spent a lot of time with books when I was young, particularly fantasy novels. Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's Dragonlance novels were an important part of my young life. As I got older, I studied Russian literature in college and that undoubtedly left its mark. Then I traveled, learned languages and was exposed to other literatures and fell in love with Bulgarian literature in particular. This is especially is true for anything written by Aleko Konstantinov and Stefan Tsanev.

A dimly lit alley between two heavily graffitied buildings.

Why science fiction?

My gateway drug to science fiction was Battlestar Galactica. That was the first time I really saw that science fiction wasn't just about futurism or cool tech, but a sandbox in which you can experiment with how characters react in circumstances bounded only by your creativity, in order to learn fundamental truths about the world that we ourselves live in.

A photo taking facing to the sky with two wings of a building and a crane forming a triangle.

Interests