EARLY LIFE

 

I was born in Ventura, California in 1966 and moved to Northern California shortly thereafter. The first 12 years of my life were spent in a fairly rural area of the upper Napa Valley. I rode horses, had chickens and goats, and pretty much lived in the woods that surrounded our home. When I was 12, my family moved to Napa proper where I attended a private school through 10th grade. I attended Napa High School my junior and senior year where I played football before joining the Marine Corps in 1986.

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CAREER

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Once I graduated boot camp, I was assigned to the third battalion first Marines where I almost immediately deployed on a Westpac. My job at the time was an anti-tank gunner or 0351 for you Jarheads out there. When I returned to the States, I transferred to STA (Surveillance Target Acquisition) Platoon. I deployed one more time before my separation from active duty.

 

After the Marine Corps, I returned to Napa where I put myself through a basic police academy while washing cars after school and on the weekends in order to survive. Law enforcement jobs were scarce back in the early 1990s so I went to work for a small, yet extremely violent, town called East Palo Alto (EPA). I worked in EPA for a little under three years before making lateral move to the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.

 

While at the Sheriff’s Office, I worked in a Street Crimes Suppression Team, SWAT, Narcotics, and Homicide. I promoted to Sergeant and worked several other positions in that rank until being promoted to Lieutenant. As a Sheriff’s Lieutenant, I worked my final two years in law enforcement as a team Lieutenant in the jails.

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WRITING

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My interest in writing reared its head in 1994 while I was working the graveyard shift in the Maguire Correctional Facility shortly after being hired by the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office. I taught myself to write screen plays during that time and wrote several feature lengths scripts. I never pursued the sale of any my screenplays and ultimately decided to write a novel after realizing how many constraints are placed on screenplays.  As I neared the end of my career in law enforcement, I began writing my first book that ended up having several names before finally turning into “A World Slowed.”

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FAMILY

 

While working in Homicide, I met my wonderful wife who was working for the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office at the time. My wife and I have three children---each of them so special, captivating, funny, and hard working. My family is my legacy. In my spare time, I enjoy watching movies (or at least the preview to movies, which drives my wife crazy) and playing hockey.  There's nothing like a hockey-loving-Napa-boy to confuse traditional hockey players.