I’ve been telling stories for as long as I can remember.

When I was about five, I once sat on a little stool under the kitchen table, completely absorbed in telling myself Jack and the Beanstalk. My mother called my name. I didn’t answer because I wasn’t finished.

Eventually, she called the police.

They came. I was fine. The story was apparently very good.

I grew up on a lake in the East Texas piney woods, where I read books on a quilt in the shade, climbed trees, collected rocks and shells, built things, fished with my dad, and paid close attention to the world around me.

I was a reader, an observer, and endlessly curious.

Not much has changed.

Once, in a workshop, I had to introduce myself in a very short amount of time. I tried to squeeze my entire career into the allotted time by simply reading the list faster.

It didn’t work particularly well then, and it likely won't work now, either. But here it is:

I’ve been a writer, college instructor, communications executive, entrepreneur, speaker, scuba instructor and EMT. I’ve worked in publishing, higher education, wildlife conservation, nonprofits, associations and marketing. I’ve written books, built businesses, taught workshops, helped other people tell their stories and changed careers often enough that I’ve stopped trying to make the path look straight.

It wasn’t. And that’s probably the best part.

Through all of it, I’ve kept coming back to the same things: people, stories, ideas, places, and the irresistible urge to ask another question.

Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of writing or publishing more than 33 book titles and 100 articles, from novels and freelance features to business books and cookbooks.