To be able to write with any authority about life, a writer needs to experience it first. Books are an excellent way to explore new worlds and sensations, but to truly grasp the gritty reality you must first plunge into the muck.

At 19, I left home and the only life I knew for Galveston Island, TX. The only place my paycheck allowed me to afford was in the slums on 34th & N. It was a rough time, but the bittersweet memories I gained will always be with me.

Two years later, after having dropped out of college due to my extracurricular activities, I enlisted in the Marine Corps. I had always felt it was my patriotic duty to serve my country, and with my options seemingly exhausted, I found the nerve and finally signed on the dotted line.

During the next few years, I met the woman who would become my wife, who has stood by me through several warfare training ops, Afghanistan, pushed and prodded me through a B.S. in Accounting, and now is the mother of my amazing daughter