Welcome! I would like to tell you a little bit about myself and why I write. I am just a regular guy, nobody special. But I wrote a few books that I think are important, as well as entertaining. I hope you find them interesting and enjoyable. Happy reading!
I’ve always wanted to write a book, and have always had an interest in leadership. In fact, I consider myself a life-long student of the subject. As a non-commissioned officer in the Air Force, I also had a lot of experience in trying to better myself and those around me with respect to leadership. I felt that by writing a book, I could pass along my knowledge and experiences to anyone who had a similar interest.
I finally found the courage to write a book after I read the excellent leadership book, The Leadership Challenge, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. They used the art of storytelling to present their lessons, and I felt that I could do something similar. I too, could tell stories and back them up with lessons about leadership. So, I wrote Leadership: A View from the Middle.
That was an incredibly large project for me! I had never done anything like that before, which made it a pretty daunting experience. But I will say, that the act of writing the book was very therapeutic. When I would sit down to write, all of my focus was on the book. The focus of telling an exciting or funny story and backing it up with a leadership lesson made me feel like I could indeed, help anyone with the yearning to become a better leader. It was a very satisfying feeling.
I’d never thought I could write a second book, as I figured that I had expended all of my brain cells after writing the first one. But I did it and was very happy to release Leading from the Middle: Teachers and Coaches. But I think I was just getting started.
I wanted to make a pivot and write a fictional novel. I couldn’t believe that I had it in me, but I did. I quickly hatched the idea and got to writing. It was an extremely enjoyable “chore” writing Persian Tomcats. I really liked the idea of having a creative license on everything in the book, since it was a work of fiction. It was great, and I enjoyed every minute of writing it.
After Persian Tomcats was released, I began thinking about its sequel. I finished writing The Last Persian Tomcat in less than four months, which was a far cry different from my other books. This novel continues the story of the Persian Tomcats, and leads to third novel of a trilogy.
Since I had two novels on the Persian Tomcats saga, I decided to make it a trilogy called "Shooters Roll." The third book debuted in January 2024 and is called Persian Dragons. This novel closes out the trilogy in an exciting and explosive conclusion.
Check them out! I hope you enjoy reading these novels as much as I enjoyed creating them.
I wrote a book about leadership that I believe will be helpful to anyone looking to make an upward move in their career, or even to find balance in their personal life. I wrote Leadership: A View from the Middle after thinking about it for twenty years. I finally sat down and wrote it over the course of two years. It was released in April 2019.
After completing that first book, I started thinking about the COVID-19 pandemic and what it did to our daily lives and habits. One of the things that stuck with me was that, while doctors and nurses received a lot of well-deserved attention, some other hard-working professionals didn’t seem to. These teachers and coaches sacrificed much to be able to teach our children, and attempt to get back to normal. I wrote Leading from the Middle: Teachers and Coaches as an homage to teachers and coaches everywhere, to thank them for what they did for us. It was released in April 2021.
As the pandemic wore on, I started thinking about maybe producing a novel. This would be a first for me, so I got to thinking about it. This project came together rather quickly for me. I sat and thought about it one day, and actually crafted the entire story line inside my head, from start to finish, in about thirty minutes! I began writing it in April 2021 and finished it in November that year. My first novel, Persian Tomcats, was released in March 2022.
I started this one not too long after Persian Tomcats was released. As a sequel, it picks up where the first book left off. It was released on Veteran's Day, November 11, 2022.
Released in January 2024, this is the third novel in the Persian Tomcats saga called Shooters Roll. It is an exciting and explosive finish to the trilogy.
I love to write books in my spare time. I also like to think that I can hit a golf ball a country mile, although I'm pretty sure there are many twelve-year-olds that can easily outdrive me. I enjoy using my smoker and will put recipes on the website from time to time.
I’ve been responsible for leading teams in the performance of operations and maintenance on F-16 and F-35 aircraft flight simulation training devices. I’ve been in this role since June 2008, after retiring from the U.S. Air Force as a Senior Master Sergeant. During this time, I also went back to school and earned an MBA.
I joined the Air Force in July 1983 and began training as an aircraft maintainer, specifically learning the avionics systems on the F-16 Fighting Falcon. I worked in this same career field for the next twenty-five years and held numerous positions of greater responsibility and authority in the aircraft maintenance arena.
I was an Air Force “Brat,” born in Berlin, Germany in 1963. Growing up, I moved around quite often with my family, eventually settling in Spokane, Washington. After joining the Air Force I married my life-long love, the former Jodi Chamberlain of Hemet, California. Having known each other since the age of seven and now happily married for over thirty-six years, we are blessed with two grown children and two grandsons. We reside in Waddell, Arizona.