I was raised on a farm in northern Illinois. My father was a commercial designer, and my mother a teacher of English and creative writing. My love of the written word can be attributed to her readi...view moreI was raised on a farm in northern Illinois. My father was a commercial designer, and my mother a teacher of English and creative writing. My love of the written word can be attributed to her reading Huckleberry Finn to me as a child. Every day, one summer after lunch, she would read for an hour. I can still hear the locusts in the sycamore trees outside the window as she read about Huck and Tom and Jim.My love of the classic ghost story started with reading Shirley Jackson's classic "The Haunting of Hill House" when I was about 10.I am an instructional designer by day, but teach and perform bluegrass music evenings and weekends. I make and repair acoustic instruments, having developed a love of the 5 string banjo as a kid.I have two grown sons, and am raising two teenagers in the suburban Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas.view less