The Man with the Yellowfin Tuna
I’m not entirely sure of the inspiration behind this book. I suppose watching lots of crime thriller movies shaped some of the storyline. One of the characters in the book was a University of Idaho football player, and I did go to school there and attend many of the football games. Part of the story takes place high in the Andes, an area I’d like to explore some day, so maybe writing about it was my way of going there now.
It Started with a Pickle Crock
This book contains my humorous personal memoirs, so obviously it’s inspired by my life experiences!
The Bonnacon Goes to Calgary
As detailed in the preface to the book, the concept for a bonnacon story came to me while strolling through the Getty Museum in Los Angeles with my wife and eldest son. We came upon the bestiary exhibit depicting medieval beasts, and a picture on the wall caught my eye so I stopped to read about it. It was a picture of a bonnacon, and the description of its unique defense mechanism appealed to the man-child in me.
The Bonnacon Goes to Pamplona
Another bonnacon adventure, inspired by that original stroll through the Getty Museum, with a Spanish twist.
The Final Play
Playing football was a big part of my youth. While football is an overarching theme in the book, the story is more about disciplined work ethic, the relationships of boys and girls in high school, the dire consequence of too much pressure to succeed, and overcoming tragedy.
A Goat’s Life
The inspiration for this book is threefold— our goats, water issues, and Watership Down. My family owned three goats when we lived in Newcastle, California. I love goats. Like dogs, you can pet and play with them. Many of the human-goat interactions in the story were taken from my personal experiences with our beloved goats.
As an engineer working in water resources, I learned all about the multitude of water issues affecting people, none more prevalent than the issue of flooding. The book includes an epic flood description that leads to a story of survival for goats and other animals, and for three brothers.
Before writing A Goat’s Life I read Watership Down, Richard Adams’ classic adventure novel featuring a group of rabbits in England. The rabbits talk, and I knew in my book I would have the goats and other animals talk and perceive things as I imagined they would.
The Folsom Rewind
The movie Memento, a 2000 psychological thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan, presents its story moving backwards in time. I thought that was pretty cool so, after delving into some history of the area where I live (Folsom, California), I wanted to share the history with my readers in a compelling story moving backwards in time.