I grew up in Washington State, in a loving family with siblings that taught me all sorts of things, including the not-so-well-known fact that ice cubes made from milk don't taste very good. Then a week before starting junior high, my mother died and life changed. I lived with a few generous families after that, with whom I'm still in contact today, and graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in English and Comparative Literature.

Shortly thereafter I taught myself computers and programming, went to Microsoft and specialized in networks, networking, and the Windows operating system. By then I'd been writing fiction for some time, without much publishing luck, but gathering a whole lot of persistence. One day I saw a banner on a technology book publisher's website that said, CALL TO AUTHORS. I thought, "I can write a technology book. That would be fun!" Twelve tech books later I came up for air, decided to take a break, and went back to fiction. About three months later, I finished a thriller I called NET WORTH.

A lot of life happened in the few years that followed, including starting a family, getting deeply involved in local education issues (I'm a school board director, and advocate for ever-stronger kids' education), built our house, but always managed to find time for writing. I created three online courses in that time too – in part because I love learning, but also because I enjoy helping others learn. Teaching those courses has been very rewarding; they're now offered in learning institutions throughout the world, all online. A few years ago I reached 10,000 students, which was a milestone for me… and every day I log into the self-paced Discussion Areas of my courses, and interact with students who are learning about networks in a story-like, analogy-strengthened online classroom. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, and I enjoy all of it – the teaching, learning, and especially interacting with students who want to expand their knowledge.

I've started a couple local charities which, as you might guess, are centered around learning… specifically, facilitate getting books into the hands of young school kids who otherwise might not have a book of their own. It's an easy charity to apply to your community, so feel free to contact me if you're interested.

To learn more about me, my upcoming novels, see student reviews about my courses, or to connect with me (there are a few ways to...