I’m a curious guy. I love learning new stuff and asking questions. I’m pretty sure I was one of those obnoxious kids who always asked, “Why?” (Some might say I’m still that kid today.) But following that curiosity has taken me up and down the Mississippi River, around the world, and deep into historical events and the lives of people past and present.
I also love a good story, and I don’t care much about the format I hear it in. That’s probably one reason I write stories across multiple genres (and also love public speaking and podcasting). I started my writing career by publishing the Mississippi Valley Traveler guidebooks and filled many of those books with stories about the events and people who’ve shaped life along the Mississippi River. Stories that weren’t a good fit for a guidebook might be told in one of my Frank Dodge mysteries.
I’ve since expanded into other genres. In 2026, The New Territory magazine published my essay “The Long Game”, a reflection on my relationship with my father that I wrote after he died in 2022. I also wrote a travel memoir to share stories about what happened when I chose to let curiosity guide my travels rather than allowing fear to restrict them. Sure, sometimes I got cheated by a tout, but far more often strangers blessed me with kindness and joy. It’s called Better Safe Than Sorry? Slow Boats, Chicken Buses, and the Radical Choice to Trust the World. Check it out.
My next big project is a series of historical fiction novels that will tell stories about American history from the experiences of regular folks. Many of the stories and characters will be inspired by my own family’s history.
You see, I’m not especially interested in writing yet another account about the famous people whose stories we’ve read and dissected ad nauseum. I’d much rather tell you about the folks whose lives we’ve often dismissed as too ordinary or unimportant, people like the ones I’ve met in small-town bars and shared beer and conversation with. Or people like my ancestors whose names may be recorded in deeds or on headstones, but whose stories have largely been forgotten.
I hope you’ll come along with me, let’s see where curiosity can take us.
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