Who am I?

I am Andrew. First and last of my kind. Among the first to build and use a personal computer, but among the last to buy a smart phone. I am a high tech Luddite. Born in Santa Clara County, I bristle when you call it, “Silicon Valley.” Growing up here, I walked through plum orchards, rode my bike to fruit stands and watched them build the highways where commuters now spend hours a day driving the few miles between homes and the desks where your software comes to life.

I was born at the end of the baby boomer era. Too young to be clearly called a boomer, but too old to join the GenX. I am stuck between. I’ve missed being a ‘yuppie’, but never became part of the downtrodden masses. I never understood 80’s rock and roll and by the turn of the century mostly listen to 19th century sea shanties dreaming I was on the heaving deck of a ship bound for far away ports.

By day I work as a software engineer shoveling the bits that fuel this high tech world of ours, but after hours will often retreat to my workshop where I build things out of wood. On a Sunday afternoon, just about tea time, you’ll find me at my keyboard pounding out my latest blog post or immersed in crafting a verse.

Reading, writing and the world of words has always been an interest of mine. I read my first science fiction novel in the 7th grade and by the time I was twenty I’d read my way through many of the great science and speculative fiction books. In particular I had a taste for post-apocalyptic and dystopia novels. As a teen I dreamed of being a science fiction writer and in my twenties I tried writing a few short stories. I even sent a few out to magazines and am proud to say I’ve been rejected by the best science fiction magazines in the business.

In time the desire to write better sent me back to school where late in life I completed a degree in English. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. In 2011, I finally gathered my resolve and starting blogging, but it was the shock of discovering I needed to be treated for prostate cancer that finally put urgency into my need to write.

Here on Today’s Author I’ll share with you why I write and some of the tips and tricks that have helped me along this creative journey. Please visit my blog to see some of my writing and some pictures of my wood working projects, Andrew’s View of the Week