- I am that rarest of all things–a native Floridian.
Photo by Jamie Taylor Novak
- I’m also Cuban-American, y mi primer idioma fue español.
- Two of the things I’m most grateful to my parents for are teaching me Spanish first, and making sure that no matter how hard times were, I always had books to read. Further, I’m grateful that my parents never tried to censor what I read.
- I began writing my first unfinished trunk novel when I was eleven.
- I got my first rejection from a paying market at the age of thirteen.
- I attended Catholic school for ten years. I’m mostly recovered now.
- In college, I had two majors–Mathematics and Literature–and two minors–Computer Science and Theology. “Elective” was just a word I heard from other people.
- Though I’ve taught mathematics for over twenty years now, I attended graduate school (at Clemson University) for literature, not mathematics.
- I’ve worked as an editor, a computer programmer, a government researcher, a tutor to the rich and/or famous, and as a teacher.
- And as a pizza delivery guy.
- Oh, and as a summer camp counselor. In fact, the most fun job I ever held–and the one I thought I was best at–was as a head counselor.
- I’ve taught every age from sixth grade to college freshmen.
- I have a theatre/musical theatre background. I am a tenor two, and not especially prone to stage fright.
- I was married inside the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.
- I’m an adoptive parent of beautiful twin girls.
- I’m a fan of the Miami Dolphins, the New York Yankees, and the Miami Heat, in more or less that order.
- I love teaching in the International Baccalaureate program, because their philosophy on learning matches closely with my own. I am interested in everything, I question everything, and I always want to know more.
- My favorite book is Speaker for the Dead.
- The book that saved my life is Ordinary People.
- The book that saves my sanity every year is Up the Down Staircase.
- My favorite band is the Indigo Girls, but I love all music that emphasizes harmony.
- I never set out to write Young Adult stories. I set out to write stories. Later on, other people explained to me that YA was what I had written.
- I spend way too much time online.
- I think bulleted lists are really, really lame.
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