Yes, I am a real Bishop, in the sense that it’s my real name. No, I’m not associated with any religious organization, past, present, future, fictional, or comical. On a related note, when the idea of “Googling yourself” was new, I found it humorous that I was, essentially, unGoogleable. Don’t look at me like that; if Googling is a word, so is unGoogleable. At first, the idea of searching for my name bringing up countless links to high schools, sports teams, and various Catholic news sites was entertaining. However, now that I’m actively pursuing a career in writing and it would be useful for people to find me, being unGoogleable has lost its appeal.
And now, because you undoubtedly can’t get enough of me, here’s some general knowledge for you. There might be a quiz.
- I was born in Naples, Italy. (My father was in the US Navy.)
- I grew up almost entirely in San Diego, California.
- I wrote my first computer program around 1983 on a Commodore VIC-20. Yeah, how’s that for geek cred? Acoustic couplers and 3600 baud modems in the house!
- I attended Noah Webster Elementary, then Oak Park Elementary after being placed in the gifted program. I graduated, barely, from Mira Mesa High School. Generally speaking, I don’t look back overly fondly on high school. I’ll leave it at that.
- Hit with a wanderlust, I traveled around the country while attending various colleges and working. Most of the college experiences I considered to be fairly positive, including one Catholic school where I genuinely enjoyed the confusion my name provided.
- I found my way to Vermont and began working in the nuclear power industry as a “decontamination specialist,” which, essentially, is as bad as it sounds. But, the job was balanced by seeing my first New England autumn and becoming smitten.
- I found my lifelong fascination and skill with computers, which used to earn me no end of grief, could now provide me with a rather nice living, and I began working as a contractor/consultant.
- I finally decided to stop being one of those people who was “working on a novel” and finished my first book, without professional editing, in just over ten years.
- Taleth-Sidhe – A 118,000-word high fantasy that will be redone at a later time.
- Finished my second book, including all editing, in about three and a half years.
- The Stolen – A 98,000-word urban fantasy and the first book in the American Faerie Tale series.
- Finished the first draft on my third book.
- Luna and the Star – A 120,000-word literary fiction manuscript.
- Started a blog entitled A Quiet Pint.
- Joined The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America
- Achieved immortality as a critically acclaimed author
- Was chastised for making things up to put in his bio
A Quiet Pint 