How has it been for you as a creative in Somerville?
Somerville is an amazing place to live when you're a creative because there are so many other people here who are full-time or part-time creatives. I've met author friends at the dog park, fellow parents at the Somerville public schools, and via Somerville Arts and Culture events. I love that this city has so many working artists across every medium, it's really inspiring and feels like a true creative community. I'm working on a new picture book about Fluff and I'm looking to partner with a Somerville artist for the project.
You are fascinated by the interaction of technology and art. With all this talk of AI—do you think technology will take the human element out of art?
I believe that generative AI has no place in the creative arts. Art should be an inherently human act, it's made by humans, for humans. Outside of generative AI, I think technology and art can complement each other beautifully. For example, I've been making digital art for more than 20 years -- I started in Microsoft Paint, moved on to creating animations in Macromedia (later Adobe) Flash, and these days, I design 3D models for my printer.
Why did you leave high tech to be a writer?
I've wanted to be an author since I was a little kid. When I graduated from college, I went and got a "real job" because that's what you're supposed to do, right? For 20 years, I worked first in tech research, then in big tech and startups. I truly enjoyed the work, I was good at it and found it rewarding. But after two back-to-back high growth startups that had successful exits, I was exhausted. I needed to take a break, and I decided to pursue my dream of being an author. It's been almost two years since I worked in a regular 9-5 job and I can't imagine ever going back.
You wrote a sci-fi book for kids, " How I Hacked the Moon." How hard is it to write a book that appeals to the sensibility of a kid. Have you retained your child-like wonder?
I've always related extremely well to kids. I think if I hadn't gone into high tech, I might have been well suited to be a teacher (a MUCH harder job). I have vivid memories of what it was like to be a pre-teen and I harnessed that, plus talking to my friends' kids who were the right age, I was able to tap into this mindset. I really never grew up, I'm a kid at heart who gets really excited about the latest nerdy thing.
My second book, With a Robot Army at My Back, just published on November 6th, it's the sequel to How I Hacked the Moon. I'm pleased to say it's already hit the Amazon Hot New Releases list (Number three!) for its genre.
Who do you count as your major influences from the world of sci-fi fiction?
I'm heavily influenced by many of the classic Sci-Fi authors like Robert Heinlein and Kurt Vonnegut. I like to think I have the tech prediction abilities of a William Gibson (I did conceive of my series about AI data centers on the moon more than ten years ago and it looks like it's coming true soon). I also take a lot of inspiration from Neal Stephenson, Martha Wells, Becky Chambers, and Scott Reintgen. I have secret Easter Eggs referencing all of these authors hiding in my books.
Somerville is an amazing place to live when you're a creative because there are so many other people here who are full-time or part-time creatives. I've met author friends at the dog park, fellow parents at the Somerville public schools, and via Somerville Arts and Culture events. I love that this city has so many working artists across every medium, it's really inspiring and feels like a true creative community. I'm working on a new picture book about Fluff and I'm looking to partner with a Somerville artist for the project.
You are fascinated by the interaction of technology and art. With all this talk of AI—do you think technology will take the human element out of art?
I believe that generative AI has no place in the creative arts. Art should be an inherently human act, it's made by humans, for humans. Outside of generative AI, I think technology and art can complement each other beautifully. For example, I've been making digital art for more than 20 years -- I started in Microsoft Paint, moved on to creating animations in Macromedia (later Adobe) Flash, and these days, I design 3D models for my printer.
Why did you leave high tech to be a writer?
I've wanted to be an author since I was a little kid. When I graduated from college, I went and got a "real job" because that's what you're supposed to do, right? For 20 years, I worked first in tech research, then in big tech and startups. I truly enjoyed the work, I was good at it and found it rewarding. But after two back-to-back high growth startups that had successful exits, I was exhausted. I needed to take a break, and I decided to pursue my dream of being an author. It's been almost two years since I worked in a regular 9-5 job and I can't imagine ever going back.
You wrote a sci-fi book for kids, " How I Hacked the Moon." How hard is it to write a book that appeals to the sensibility of a kid. Have you retained your child-like wonder?
I've always related extremely well to kids. I think if I hadn't gone into high tech, I might have been well suited to be a teacher (a MUCH harder job). I have vivid memories of what it was like to be a pre-teen and I harnessed that, plus talking to my friends' kids who were the right age, I was able to tap into this mindset. I really never grew up, I'm a kid at heart who gets really excited about the latest nerdy thing.
My second book, With a Robot Army at My Back, just published on November 6th, it's the sequel to How I Hacked the Moon. I'm pleased to say it's already hit the Amazon Hot New Releases list (Number three!) for its genre.
Who do you count as your major influences from the world of sci-fi fiction?
I'm heavily influenced by many of the classic Sci-Fi authors like Robert Heinlein and Kurt Vonnegut. I like to think I have the tech prediction abilities of a William Gibson (I did conceive of my series about AI data centers on the moon more than ten years ago and it looks like it's coming true soon). I also take a lot of inspiration from Neal Stephenson, Martha Wells, Becky Chambers, and Scott Reintgen. I have secret Easter Eggs referencing all of these authors hiding in my books.
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