House Plans: Collage Online

Collage Online

Education: Attended Alamo Heights High School in San Antonio. Worked as an editor for the school newspaper and won third place in state for UIL feature writing. Also got in trouble for publishing an underground newspaper that made fun of the school, especially the losing football team. (The football team later egged my car). Began college at North Texas State (because I thought I wanted to be a guitar player and they had the best music program), but then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin. Graduated with a double major in English and history. Got certified to teach English and history from UT San Antonio. Did my student teaching in the San Antonio Independent School District.

Childhood influences: The first book I remember reading for fun was the Lord of the Rings. I probably read it ten times. I also liked Greek and Norse mythology since I was in middle school. I read mostly fantasy and science fiction in high school, then got interested in mysteries when I got to college. My parents were both teachers. My mom was a musician and an artist, too. My dad was a ceramicist (he made stuff out of clay), so I grew up in a very artistic family. I started writing when I was in middle school. The first story I submitted for publication was when I was 13. It wasn’t published. My first published works were two short stories in the UTSA literary magazine.

Work experience: When I was in college, I worked for three years as the music director at a summer camp, Camp Capers. This is where I got the idea for Camp Half-Blood. My first full-time job was teaching middle school in New Braunfels, Texas. After that, my wife and I moved to San Francisco. We lived there for eight years and I taught at Presidio Hill School. Then we had our two sons, Haley and Patrick, and we moved back home to San Antonio. I taught at Saint Mary’s Hall (English and social studies, grades 6-8) for six years, then stopped teaching to become a full-time writer. I taught mythology almost every year that I was a teacher. It was always my favorite thing, and the students always liked it, too!

Family: I live with my wife and two sons, Haley and Patrick.

Pets: one dog (a Golden Labrador mix) and two black cats.

Favorite book I wrote: That’s a hard question for a writer. It’s like asking which of your children is your favorite. I like them all for different reasons.