About me

I’m a father of two great kids, I have a devoted sweetie (Martha), and I am a new author. I love cooking and photography.

I have been a scout leader for over ten years and an outdoorsman and camper for thirty more. My undergraduate degree was in Biology-Cytogenetics, and I have a Master's in Forensic Science.

I got a bit of a shock in 2020 when I was diagnosed with a glioblastoma, and I was told I had nine months or less to live, which meant I would not see my youngest graduate from high school. Happily, the chemo and radiation therapy had exactly the kind of effect we hoped for, and the tumor was shrunk to near-nothingness.

I am already considered an outlier (having lived over two years past when they figured I would die), and I am not planning on going anywhere soon - except possibly the kitchen for dessert.

The great thing about a terminal diagnosis is that all the stress around retirement and having money to live on just falls away. Another advantage is you suddenly have the time to chase your dreams. In my case, that was writing stories that included scenes and interactions that have been dancing around in my head for almost two decades.

In 2021, I developed appendicitis. In the course of doing a routine CT scan of my abdomen, a cyst was noted on my right kidney. Although it was small enough they didn’t believe it would metastasize, I said let’s yank that little bugger right out. Good thing, as it turned out to be Stage 3 kidney cancer.

You might not think getting appendicitis would be a good thing; in my case, it likely saved my life. It reminded me of a fabulous excerpt from a treasured video game, Thief:

"The stone cannot know why the chisel cleaves it

The iron cannot know why the fire scorches it.

When thy life is cleft and scorched, when death and despair leap at thee

Beat not thy breast and curse thy evil fate

But thank the Builder for the trials that shape thee."

That sums up my approach to life. Bad things have often led to positive results after some period of time. I say, be patient and work at being accepting. You never know what will happen down the road.

In March 2023, I had a hemorrhagic stroke (not the blood clot kind that kills brain tissue). A week later I developed Bell’s Palsy. My speech is impaired, and my balance is not good. But it could have easily been worse, and I know it. So I think it’s fair to say 2020-2023 was quite the shitshow. I keep chugging forward because it’s the way I was brought up.

Ma Ryhn didn’t raise no quitters.

Let’s see what’s around the next corner together. :)

If you have bothered to read all of this, I hope it’s because you enjoyed something I wrote. All of my works can be found on Amazon’s Kindle site.

Thank you so much,

- Steve