About Me
I have lived an unconventional life. Born in Charlotte, NC in1986 to two public school teachers, my parents exposed my sister and I to a variety of experiences instilling in us a love for nature exploring the woods and creeks near our home, domestic and international travel and supporting us in our athletic endeavors, they even built a regulation size youth baseball/softball field on our property. That field is where I further honed my baseball skills and gave my team at the time a place to practice. Home was a family farm in York, SC where I attended the York public school system. Active in both academics and athletics, I was the quintessential “All American” high school student earning many academic accolades as well as nine varsity letters in three sports. Late in my senior year at York Comprehensive High School during the midst of my greatest season pitching for the YCHS Cougar baseball team, life threw me a curve ball forever changing my plans. I did graduate with a number of academic honors, was voted the MVP in baseball and named to the all-region team. In 2007 I became a semi-finalist for the PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship. In the winter of 2017, I spent several months in Iowa City on a pilgrimage to the Iowa Writer's Workshop where I couch surfed with Iowa poetry professor and Fulbright winner, Jake Montgomery and my best friend from York, Robert McFarland. The time spent in Iowa was akin to an awakening as that experience instilled in me the drive to pursue writing full-time which ironically was never in "the plan." Why and how my life was changed is contained in some of my writings.
I am very grateful to be able to have a life where I am pursuing my dream and finding some success. I have been writing both poetry and prose since my senior year of high school and through tireless practice and development, have come up with a unique voice and style. I got into writing in a rather unusual way. I was the drummer for the rock band ”Johnny Slacker” - we have a demo EP on Spotify and iTunes. One day our singer and songwriter Albert Strawn came down with health issues and could no longer work with us. It was then that I tried my hand at writing songs , which I failed terribly at, but did find the spark for my future poetry and prose. I have sacrificed a normal life of family and work and traveled all over, writing about my adventures.
The South is a major theme of my work. I currently go back and forth between Calabash, North Carolina on the coast and York, South Carolina where home is. I draw inspiration from both of these places and in both instances have an almost spiritual connection to the land and people of each respective town.
I am currently looking for an agent for my novel “Closer to the Sun” as well as building up publishing credits to eventually release a collection.
If my work has brought you joy, please consider purchasing my titles from Amazon.com or subscribing to my Patreon channel with complete access to all my published work for 1$!