Mary’s College of California and an MA in English from Sacramento State University. Initially, I taught high school in Sacramento until I moved to Indiana to begin graduate school at the University of Notre Dame where I earned my doctorate specializing in the British novel. After finishing my degree, I taught at Valparaiso University then at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre. In 1989 I came to Southw
est Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota, as an assistant professor. At present, I am a full professor and chair of the department. I have been working on a speculative, science fiction series, The Marsco Saga, for several years. The first two novels, The Marsco Dissident and Marsco Triumphant, should be available soon as e-book downloads via Amazon. They tell the story of a post-nationhood world where a single mega-corporation, Marsco, controls everything via its absolute control of computer usage. Marsco Terminus, Book III, tells of the final years of this situation. The Ascendancy of Marsco, Book IV, is the prequel to the nightmare world of Marsco. Books III and IV will also be available for download but at a later date. I consider myself a novelist who chooses to write speculative science fiction, not a science fiction writer. This statement is not a semantic ploy: character development, political machinations, and theme drive my works, not plot gimmicks, scientific tricks, and hypotheses about future technology. I do not write about little green men or covert computer operations that run everything until accidentally discovered. Marsco uses its raw power to control and dictate who and what it wants. Even though most of my work is in the speculative genre, I am working on a novel about the academy, The Gods of Small Fiefdoms, which is either a comic look at the incongruous drama of university life or a serious look about the unintended absurdity of academic life. Besides writing and teaching, I enjoy reading fiction ranging from Jane Austen to Pat Barker to Patrick O’Brien to Émile Zola. I also read widely in history: the Marsco world is based loosely on the Roman and British Empires. As much as I enjoy my university life, writing is my passion.
