Bio:
Growing up:
I grew up in Carpinteria, California, where I was home-schooled until Junior High. I was obsessed with old books, Lego, Basic programming, and climbing trees. After dropping out of high school I worked at Giovanni’s pizza and surfed.
In my late teens, I attended Pierce Community College, majoring in math then Spanish then music. Finally, after realizing I liked writing poetry, I decided to be a writer.
Career:
After working as a waiter and bartender for over 25 years, I completed my English degree and became a community college writing instructor. I’m currently an Assistant Professor at Los Angeles City College. I’ve written book reviews for The Colorado Review and about music and film for No Ripcord. My work has been recognized by the Academy of American Poets, the New Short Fiction Series, and my book of short stories was a semi-finalist in Ohio State’s The Journal Book Prize.
Currently:
Most recently, I graduated from the Bennington Writing Seminars MFA program, where I worked with Peter Cameron, Rebecca Makkai, Claire Vaye Watkins, and Monica Ferrell. I recently finished a novel, which is being added to my drawerful of completed books.