Here's a little bit about me (I'm a New Yorker, but I just like this photo); and here's me with my girl:

THE BEGINNING:

The first story I wrote, or at least remember writing, was a King Arthur adventure, back when I was in the 3rd grade. The main character's name was Quenpor. Wow, was it bad. I started writing again in high school, and penned a trilogy of short stories to do--what else?--impress a girl, and even though I never got that girl, I was off to the races as a writer.

I experimented with all sorts of writing: song lyrics (kinda bad); poetry (atrocious); short stories (getting a little better); comic books (hit and miss, but some good stuff in there); became a journalist (and a pretty good one); and now I've written FINDERS KEEPERS, my first novel, but certainly not my last. I've got at least four more ready to go.

MARRIED LIFE:

As for the personal stuff, I've been married to my wife, Liz, for five years, and if I was ever looking for proof that the Universe has my back, Liz is that proof. We now live in Forest Hills, Queens, after five years on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, and five years I spent in Park Slope, Brooklyn, before that. I grew up on Long Island (but don't hold that against me), went to college in Buffalo, NY, and spent my last semester--and a great semester at that--in Manchester, England, where I had the time of my life. That time away included the preceding month, where I took my backpacking trip through Europe that inspired FINDERS KEEPERS. After the U.K. I did a short stint in Tempe, Arizona, before coming back to New York for good.

My cat, Alex, has been with me for 15 years and is still going strong. He's a crazy bugger who's used up most of his nine lives, but is one of the absolute coolest cats you're ever likely to meet. Way cooler than me, that's for sure. For photos of Alex, check out the photos section on this site.

PLAIN OLE CRAZY:

I'm a traveler and a baseball junkie, played the drums in a high school rock band, and now spend a lot of my time trying both to embrace how crazy I am, and also to become slightly more sane. It's an interesting dichotomy that keeps me busy. So if you see me walking down the street talking to myself in an animated fashion--which I often do--don't worry. About six years ago I was by myself, walking home from work on the West Side of Manhattan. I was going off on some sort of tirade after having an absolutely lousy day. And then, as if out of nowhere, a guy came up and put his hands on my shoulders. He held me steady. He then looked at me and said, "It's going to be okay."

Like I said, that's just my process. Embracing the crazy as I work out trying to become more sane.

There's probably more I could tell you, but I can't think of anything right now that would make me seem like less of a kook, so I'll stop here.

Thanks for checking out FINDERS KEEPERS. Like the tag-line says, there are worse things to lose than your mind. Let me know when you figure out what that is.

I'm still working on it.

Russ
January 2007

(updated Oct. 2007)