I was born, raised, and still live in the Baltimore, Maryland metro area. (Fortunately I got out of town for college, but then I wound up in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so leaving didn't accomplish much!) As to when, let's just say the Beatles were still together when I was born. OK, mostly together. Technically. Sort of. The product of two librarians, I read voraciously as a child but my writing and artistic attempts were limited to standard educational requirements. It wasn't until college that I discovered I had ability with writing (leading to winning Frostburg State University's Journalistic Writing Contest), and also discovered by accident that I could draw. I was taking a Graphic Design class required by my major - and taught by an instructor who was quite convinced that no non-art major could possibly have talent - when I stumbled upon the combination of colored pencils and black matte board. (That piece, Groundhog, is in the Art Gallery under Animals; a student-graded project, it earned me an 'A' from my peers and irritated the heck out of the instructor. Ha!) For several years, I used the colored pencils to depict baseball and hockey players in action, and sold several pieces to players on the Baltimore Orioles, Washington Capitals and Buffalo Sabres. Taking a suggestion from a ballplayer who was also an artist, I tried regular pencil sketching on paper and found I was good at that, plus it's easier on the hands and much more portable. My sketchbook and I could be found at many a minor league baseball game these last few years. And yes, I was nailed by a few foul balls because I was too wrapped up in the sketch to duck! In the past year I've experimented with colored pencils on regular paper, plus tried out charcoals, wash pencils, watercolor paints, watercolor pencils, scratchboard, and pen and ink work; regardless of medium, I remain committed to portrait work. The challenge of accurately depicting a person/animal/creature and capturing both its likeness and its personality has me hooked. In the past year I've also begun experimenting with mat decoration, wood and wood-burning, glass and other crafty pursuits. Meanwhile, I covered the local music scene for a few local publications, then wrote about minor league hockey for the LCS: Guide to Hockey for several years before burning out on journalism. I also did quite a bit of photography on behalf of LCS, and I hope to add some of these to the Photo gallery in the near future. Shortly afterwards I stumbled upon the world of fanfiction when I was asked to do cover art for a fanzine (So Close To Home... in the Angel gallery). Encouraged by the fanzine's author, I took my best shot at writing an Angel fic; in the end, I wrote 11 Angel fics which were published online and they all appear here. Though my interests were trained primarily on art, I still managed to write a few fics here and there in other fandoms (not to mention all the unfinished ones I have lying around!) and I am making slow but steady progress on an original screenplay. I also have written text for several web sites, most notably LotR Fan Art and the 2003 LotR Fan Club Art Contest. I am the site director for LotR Fan Art and the owner/moderator of LotR_FanArt Yahoo! Group, where artists with a Tolkien fixation can coach and encourage each other through artistic endeavors. That's a plug, folks. Speaking of plugs, I am presently experiencing obsessions with Firefly and Battlestar Galactica, the new version. I implore everyone to please take the time to watch BSG on SciFi and pick up the DVDs if you can, and please buy 'Serenity' and Firefly DVDs. Both shows need all the support they can get. And oh yes, I started a regional fan group for Firefly. Please check out those sites, too! Besides art and writing, my time is occupied with volunteer work at a local concert venue, the Roots Caf頨 - www.rootscafe.org); listening to music; watching movies and television covering several fandoms and genres; following ice hockey and minor league baseball; collecting trading cards and autographs; and playing with my two dogs and two nephews. (Another dog, the late Toby; our former cat, Marilla; and my older nephew, Jack, can be seen in the Gallery.) Professionally, I am doing the 9 to 5 thing as a legal secretary. It pays the bills. Barely! I am available for freelance work or regular employment in art, writing, and/or editing/proofreading. I can be contacted at . As to the future, well, as Josh Joplin sings, 'Here's to the future that was everything you thought it would be.' We'll just have to see.