Getting To Know Me:

On NOT Growing Up:

I was born in Federal Way, Washington on September 18^th, 1979. I have two older sisters, an older brother who passed away as a baby, a younger brother, and a younger sister. While the part of Federal Way we lived in was somewhat run down, and money was tight, we were never without the needed encouragement to invent and imagine, and work hard to follow our dreams. Many times, our less-than-copious circumstances became the catalyst for those dreams. Under a warm roof, our imaginations and inventions flourished. After these many years, my brother, sisters, and I are beginning to see the fruits of our childhood dreams. And though we have long since grown up and look upon these dreams in a different, more responsible light, they are our dreams just the same, and have the power at a moment’s notice to wash away our stuffy adult exteriors and bring to life the brilliant light of a childhood well-lived. I attribute our success to my parents and the time we constantly spent together.

Elementary School:

Growing up, I attended Lake Grove Elementary. While my memories of the school—both real and embellished—are not your typical ones, and it certainly became a feeding ground for inspiration later in my life, it was a great school with teachers who cared and worked hard every day of the year to help those below the poverty line learn to succeed and expect nothing less. It was in the second grade when Mrs. Honda chose my 1-page story, The Rainbow that Goes to Japan to go to the local Young Author’s program, instead of K-- M--’s Girls are Stinky, that I began to realize how much I loved to invent stories. I attended Young Author’s every year after that, and from there my love for writing grew, and grew, and grew.

Junior High…and Beyond—thank heaven:

During my sixth grade year I moved to California for a few months before moving back to Washington to a small city called Poulsbo. It is there that I developed life-long friendships and began to understand who I was and who I wanted to become. Poulsbo Junior high was what junior high has always been to most teens—chaos, chaos, and more chaos. Did I mention it was chaotic? That being said, I again had teachers who cared and inspired me along the way. By high school I had settled in quite nicely, and it was during my junior year at North Kitsap—thanks to a series of fabulous English teachers--that my writing flourished.

Two-year Mission:

After high school, I served a full-time volunteer mission for my church in Taiwan, talking to people about one of the most important things in my life: family. In order to do so, I taught myself to read, write, and speak Mandarin Chinese. While that language has somewhat faded due to non-use, the experiences and life-education gained there have not.

Home Sweet Home:

Upon returning home, I attended Brigham Young University’s Rexburg, Idaho campus where I had the privilege of meeting Calista Mae Bennett. She asked me out on the first date, but after that I couldn’t ask her out enough. We dated for a very short period of time before marrying and moving to Vancouver, WA (her home) to begin our lives together. Having been married for just over seven years now, we currently reside just north of Bremerton, Washington, and have three wonderful and energetic boys, who--I’m happy to say--are mirroring my mischievous boyhood more and more each day.