On the eve of the ides of March 2005, I was stuck awake with insomnia. An unrepentant night owl, I do my best and most creative thinking in the dark hours, and this particular night, I realized that there wasn't an active group for people who wrote stories about J.R.R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion (the Silmfics group went inactive shortly after I joined the fandom) but there should be one. And in the middle of the night, it seemed this was something I could handle.

To be clear, this was a pretty dumb decision. I was not only new to the fandom and Tolkien but a lurker. Nonetheless, the next day, I set up the Silmarillion Writers' Guild on Yahoo! Group and LiveJournal, a decision that felt surprisingly inconsequential considering the impact it would have on my life.

Chances are, you are here because of that decision. You likely know me either through my Silmarillion-based fiction or my work as an independent Tolkien scholar, neither of which would likely exist without that decision to start the SWG. (Yes, I did things backward. Logically, one develops a fandom following, then starts an ambitious fandom project. I would not change things.) No matter your reason for being here: Welcome. I hope you enjoy my work that you find here.

At the precise moment when I am writing this page, I would describe myself as a fiction writer and independent Tolkien scholar. I am also a humanities teacher: my life's work and great passion. I became a teacher also because of that insomniac night. Although I'd always loved stories and writing, I didn't believe in the importance of either. My work in fandom and the people I met here convinced me differently. I saw how stories changed lives: how they wove friendships and changed minds and moved hearts to greatness. My life has changed because of stories. This simple realization propelled me to pursue my teaching license and join a profession that I love more than I'd ever imagined possible.

Born in Baltimore in 1981, I now live in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom with my high school sweetheart and the love of my life, Bobby. Much of my time these days is either devoted to my profession (I am perpetually convinced that I don't know enough to do my job well and am always plummeting down some historical rabbit hole as a result) or my research, but I'm also an open-water swimmer and try to be by the water as much as possible. I also love website building and continue to run, with the help of a team of amazing comods and volunteers, the Silmarillion Writers' Guild, which is going on twenty years old.

My research today focuses a bit on Tolkien studies and a bit on fandom studies. On the former, I focus mostly these days on the pseudohistorical devices Tolkien used in his books, namely bias. In fandom studies, I work with the history and culture behind Tolkien-based fanworks. I am the lead researcher on the longitudinal Tolkien Fanfiction Survey and am especially interested in authority and archives. I try to present and publish a couple times per year in these areas; my work can be found here on this site. I wish I wrote more fiction than I do these days. Some of my favorites are here; much more can be found on the SWG.

If my life were stitched together by a single theme, it would be my conviction that everyone has something to say, most voices aren't heard, and what gifts I have been given are intended to be used to change that to the greatest extent I can. Whether through my work on the SWG or my teaching or my own creative work, I hope I do my small part to amplify the voices of those who go unheard.