Author Biography

I am the author of four fiction novels: The Red Jacket, The Wine Red Road, Where Once Was Peace and Death in the Gallatin Valley. I currently am working on my fifth novel, tentatively titled Camelot Down, Berkeley 1969. I also write what I hope is a witty, humorous, sarcastic, social commentary blog called, According to Sam and Jim (accordingtosamandjim.blogspot.com) two days a week. I try to locate my fiction stories in real towns where I’ve lived or visited frequently. Subplots in my books often involve a relationship between a father or stepfather and son.

I draw from a wide variety of work and personal experiences for my writing. I retired from working as a right-of-way agent, buying and selling real estate for Washington State and Whatcom County (Bellingham), at the end of 2010. Prior to working for the government I was an independent real estate agent. I also have worked in a grocery store, as a collections officer for a finance company, at the U.S. Post Office, for the California Highway Patrol, as a restaurant cook and manager, as a newspaper reporter and publisher and as a magazine editor and freelance contributor.