I grew up in the small town of Blackstone, Massachusetts with two siblings, two lost step-siblings, a loving mother, and an evil step-father. I was a Boy Scout, a pole-vaulter, a flutist and bassoonist, and a proud member of my school’s drum corps. I also have the distinction of having died twice by the age of eighteen before being revived by paramedics both times.
Sorry. No white light.
I left home at eighteen and worked in a variety of dead-end jobs for the next five years until I was robbed at gunpoint at the age of twenty-three. This brush with death finally convinced me to get off my ass, propelling me to college in Connecticut shortly thereafter. I worked my way through school, graduating from Manchester Community College in 1996 and Trinity College with an English degree and Saint Joseph’s College with a teaching degree in 1999.
Following graduation, I went to work as an elementary school teacher and have been teaching ever since. In 2005 I was named West Hartford’s Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year.
In addition to my teaching and writing careers, I also own and operate a DJ company that performs weddings throughout Connecticut.
In 2006 I married my wife and colleague, Elysha Green, after proposing to her in front of friends and family on the main landing of Grand Central Station in New York. We live in Newington, CT with our daughter, Clara, our Lhasa Apso, Kaleigh, and our enormous, slightly insane house cat named Owen.
When not teaching or writing or squeezing Clara, I spend my time listening to
music and dodging phone calls. I'm an avid, albeit awful, golfer and a much better
basketball and poker player. I enjoy attending Patriot games as a season ticket
holder and Yankee games whenever possible, and I would like to play more football
if
my
frighteningly fragile
friends
were more
willing.
I read a great deal, listen to audio books, and listen
to about three dozen podcasts on a daily and weekly basis. My interests
include technology,
sports, and current events.
I also design and run a bi-annual race about Connecticut modeled after CBS's
The Amazing Race called The A-Mattzing Race, and this keeps me busy planning
and coordinating the next event.
I recently completed a Master’s degree in Educational Technology at American
Intercontinental University and am working on a Master’s in English at my alma
mater, Trinity College.
I don't sleep much.
