Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?
I grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. As a small boy, I was constantly making up stories, creating characters and entertaining my friends with my lively imagination. I have always been a people watcher; I like to see how people react to the world around them, everything from people in the grocery store, at the airport, in the mall or walking down the street. My father moved our family from house-to-house, town-to-town and eventually state-to-state over twenty times during my childhood. This constant moving made it difficult to make life-long friendships and it made it nearly impossible to ever feel planted. I found that story telling helped me to create a life with stability; it gave me control over my own destiny.
When did you first start writing?
I started writing down my stories when I was in the 9th grade. I remember our drama teacher told us about a new technology called videography and that she had been given permission by the school district to borrower a video camera. I wrote a short play called The Villain Strikes Again. It was a five minute black and white comedy bit based on the old Dudly Doright series. I still have the video and one day will post it to Youtube. I wrote my first short story as a junior in high school. The title of the story was, Murder On Terobicombobicavitzcavatzcaloby Island. I know, a long and stupid title, but hey, I was a 16 year old and it was an English class assignment.
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