I began writing when I was in fourth grade and have written poetry, academic criticism and, more recently, speculative fiction. I teach Literature at Grand Valley State University in Allendale,Michigan. I love writing, love stories, love to read, and to create readable stories. My speculative and literary fiction has appeared in publications in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Israel, Europe, and Asia. I have published over 300 poems, 140 stories, two novellas, and a novel. Writing is my lifeblood and my quest for answers. Stories are mirrors by which we see ourselves and a crystal through which we come to know others. My writing opens doors.

 

Imagination is the key to living. For years I lived among and taught those who lacked imagiantion--who thought that innovation, creativity, narrative and just plain old tale-telling was stupid and juvenile. While those people crashed and burned, I discovered writing. Self-expression is salutary. It is redemptive. It is what is best for us. Reading and writing--well, all creative expression--opens doors. It does  not merely open casual doors where we see unusual things. It opens the doors we need to walk through if we want to be whole.