During a professional writing career spanning 30 years, I worked successively as a congressional press aide in Washington, D.C., a newspaper reporter and editor on California's Central Coast (Monterey and Santa Cruz counties), a political speechwriter in Washington, D.C., a corporate speechwriter in Los Angeles, a marketing communications writer in Silicon Valley, and a freelancer before retiring in 2003. I discovered the story of Kamehameha the Great during my first visit to the "Big Island" of Hawai'i in July, 2004, and began writing my first novel, "Once There Was Fire" the following November. Twelve years, 20 days later, I finally had a book.

I am a native of Chicago's North Side, and a no-longer-suffering, lifelong Chicago Cubs fan.

(I have nothing further to add at this time.)