THE HIGHLIGHTS

• Finalist for Glimmer Train’s New Writers Award (2012)
• Four years as blog editor for the UntitledTown Book & Author Festival
• Barnes & Noble Writing Workshop Co-Lead (2010-present)
• Member of the Thirsty Poets spoken word troupe (2003-2011)
• Winner of the 2005 UWGB Poetry Slam competition
• One finished manuscript (The Dead Keys) and a new manuscript in the works (Invincible-ish)

EVERYTHING ELSE

Born and raised in Green Bay, WI, my first book obsessions were Mario Adventure Books and those educational Just Ask books that parents would buy because they, coincidentally, were sick and tired of being asked things. Our bookshelves also had a dusty collection of gold-edged World Book Encyclopedia volumes and an even dustier series of illustrated Bible stories. So “literature” was a mixed bag in our house.

Inspired less by these books than loud, bright, mindless Saturday morning cartoons, my writing instincts began with Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fanfic, as well as an original kaiju story about an unmeltable abominable snowman. (Reach out for the movie rights.)

Later, in middle school, I bought a grocery bag of Goosebumps books from a rummage sale for the cost of a can of soup, and that ignited my first book obsession. I could devour a book in a study hall period. The first book I called my favorite was one I found at my local library, Nick Baron’s Virtual Destruction, a sort of Ready Player One style of story so obscure that even Amazon is like, “WTF is that?”

By the time high school rolled around, I was reading Green Bay Packer memoirs, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King’s Misery, a book by Chris Rock, and (against my will) Thoreau’s On Walden Pond. I took my first creative writing class senior year, which was part writing, part walking around outside, and part listening to our teacher shit on her other classes. I’d found my calling.

So I went to college, got an English degree, joined a band of drunken poets, and wrote a formative amount of terrible poems and short stories. After graduation, I got a boring nine-to-five and launched a blog that went on for about five years. I also spent a few years as a blog editor for Green Bay’s UntitledTown Book & Author Festival where I wrote promotions, interviews, book reviews, and more, covering authors like Margaret Atwood, R.L. Stein, and Nicholas Butler. (One year, a few friends and I even led a panel on writing workshops.)

During all that time, I’d been working on my first novel, one that would go through three drafts and countless workshops, called The Dead Keys. I’m currently in the process of seeking representation and, after that, a publisher.

Along the way I also got married, raised an incredible stepson, and adopted the friendliest goddamn dog to ever trot this planet. Today, I’m working on several exciting projects, and I hope to have some great stories to share in the near future.