About

My formative years were shaped by falling to sleep to the sounds of my sentimental, award-winning, gonzo, journalist father, pounding away, late into the night, on his old Remington typewriter, and he reading aloud his completed manuscripts to my mom and four siblings, as we’d gather around the dining room table, and clap when he was done. Or, how he would pack more food in my elementary-school lunch box than I could ever possibly eat in an hour, or spend hours playing sports with me (baseball, basketball, tennis, and body surfing), turning me into a sports enthusiast, like himself. But being raised by my (eventual) single, Indonesian mother, who spoke English as a fifth language, had the most impact on me. Whenever I, or my siblings, would complain about our new life circumstances (of economic disenfranchisement, of that of a “broken” family), my mom, who survived a Japanese internment camp, and the Dutch colonization of her home country of Indonesia, would quip: “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” Indeed. It wasn’t until I was an adult that I fully understood--and appreciated--the full magnitude of that statement.

But, for all of it, I’m grateful, and thank you for visiting my site.

I read, and will respond to, all correspondence in a timely manner.

Education

San Diego State University, B.A. Journalism and Political Science

University of Washington, graduate Non-Fiction Writers Program

(And, a lot of self-supported community college, and night-school, involved, too.)

Journalism Honors

William Faulkner Award

Semi-finalist, Novel-in-progress:  “Casa de Spin”

Semi-finalist, Essay category:  “Agony of Deceit”

Semi-finalist, Short Story: “Room With a Muse”

 Reader’s Digest Grant, San Diego State University