about
Me and Cha Cha Maru
I was born in Texas but didn’t spend too much time there. I was only a few months old when we moved to Fairbanks, Alaska. There I lived the first half of my childhood wandering those magical mountains and rivers, eating wild blueberries, and trying to avoid eye contact with the bleeding moose heads the hunters left on the sidewalk to drain.
After six years of snow, we headed for the deep south spending time in South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. Here life was all about running around barefoot and hanging out on the beach as often as possible. I have since lost the accent but refuse to part with the word “fixin”.
High school found me in Omaha, Nebraska, as did college life. I was heavily into Chinese internal martial arts (hsing yi, ba gua, and tai qi) and began to study Chinese and various styles of Buddhism. This led to a short stint in Xiamen, China where I realized in order to truly learn a foreign culture I would have to live in one. I shifted my focus a little farther East.
As a senior I received the Japanese Ministry of Education Scholarship to study in Shizuoka, Japan for one year which I extended for another nine months. Here I studied not only the language but a wee bit of law and a whole lot of kendo. I returned to Omaha just long enough to graduate and then headed back to Japan — this time to a small fishing town called Yaizu just outside Shizuoka.
The Family
I have been living here since 1990. And ironically enough I’m a 15-minute drive from both the ocean and the mountains. There aren’t any moose heads and going barefoot is taboo, but I do get to enjoy autumn harvest festivals and midnight visits to the local temple to ring in each New Year.
Other than writing I’m currently studying Buddhist jizo rock carving under the famous teacher, Sugimura Takashi. He’s delightful and has agreed to let me pick his brain for research on my next book. I’ve also begun to study Japanese watercolor painting and calligraphy using gansai — old fashioned watercolors made from natural pigments. I spend quite a bit of time researching and translating information about Japanese folklore and mythical creatures, as well as driving around visiting various temples and historical spots.
My second book is aimed at middle grade readers. It’s entitled, TANUKI SOUP and is currently being submitted to publishers. I’m currently writing a novel tentatively called, THE BOY WITH TWO HORNS AND A TAIL. It’s a love story.
