I'm one of those guys who has his fingers in a lot of different pies. People who like me might call me a Renaissance Man, and people who don't like me might call me a jack of all trades and master of none. I'm OK with either description. Here's a rundown of who I am and what I do.
* I'm a single father of a daughter and two sons in Rapid City, S.D. As of this writing, my daughter Mia is 9 and my sons Ezra and Lorenzo are 7 and 2. Being a dad has never intimidated me; I've always felt like I was born to do it. It helps that my kids are all extremely, for lack of a better word, "easy" -- they're smart, healthy, well-behaved and well-mannered (for the most part. If you don't count the occasional bouts of intra-sibling brutality). Although being a father is my most important job, it's the side of me that most people never see, because I also do the stuff below.
* I'm a writer (duh, right? Where are you reading this, after all?). I've been a writer longer than I've been anything, starting with my career as a reporter back in 1994. But now I'm focused on writing more books, on a wide -- and I do mean WIDE -- variety of subjects. I hope you buy every single damn one of 'em. :)
* I own a search engine advertising agency called StraightForward Media that I founded in 2001. It's made me a good living and I'm grateful for the chance to have been home with my family during almost my entire working life.
* I like mixed martial arts. Mostly I watch, but I've done some boxing and am beginning some ju-jitsu training (I'm 40...better late than never).
* I like learning foreign languages. I speak passable Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian. I also study Japanese, Swedish, Danish, Irish and Dutch, but don't trust me to be your guide in those countries. Next up for me is some Turkish. I also know sign language -- an antiquated version of sign language called SEE (Signing Exact English) that really annoys deaf people, but hey, at least I can communicate.
Ask me anything at josh.barsch@gmail.com
