I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. In my grandmother’s files I found a serious-minded critique of Disneyland that I wrote when I was five (the Submarine Voyage earned top marks). For all I know, I was writing before then, too. I was certainly writing afterward. In fourth or fifth grade I identified a gaping vacuum in the information flow at my elementary school and responded by writing, editing, printing and distributing an all-school newspaper. I’ll let you decide whether that effort is a good example of youthful industry or ego run amok.

By the time I got to junior high school (or middle school, depending on what part of the country you’re in) I was invited to write the lyrics to the school song. That remains my sole venture into songwriting, though I’m still waiting for a call from Marvin Hamlisch or someone. Around this same time, I discovered that I could also rearrange or revise other people’s words. In any other line of work this would be called vandalism, but in mine we call it editing. I edited the school literary magazine and the high school yearbook and anything else that people would let me improve.

Next up was a stint at UCLA, where I worked at the bookstore, helped edit the literary magazine and wrote reviews for the Daily Bruin. I also earned a degree in American Studies, which required both a lot of reading and writing a lot of papers – this in the day when an electric typewriter was the most advanced technology available. While in school I got my first magazine job, a part-time stint at Orange Coast magazine. The pay wasn’t great (non-existent, to be strictly accurate) but the perks were great – I went to Hollywood parties and ate at great restaurants. And I spent one summer back home in Phoenix working for a small publication called Arizona Living. I worked all summer to keep my car running, but it was great experience.

Once I graduated, I went to work for a magazine called Interface Age, which was about PC applications in small businesses. It was there that I discovered I could quickly assimilate information and vocabulary and write credibly about something I knew nothing about. That led to a job at Personnel Journal (later Workforce), which was a magazine about personnel (later human resources) management – a subject I eventually learned everything about. I stayed for 16 years, starting as an Assistant Editor and leaving as the Publisher. In between, I spent many years as the editor, wrote many articles, won several awards and overcame my fear of public speaking.

After leaving the magazine, I co-wrote two books.  The first one, The Boss’s Survival Guide, was a Wall Street Journal  and Amazon.com bestseller. The second one, Gray Matters: A Workplace Survival Guide, was ahead of its time and will be justly celebrated for its genius long after I’m dead. I’ve also worked freelance for a wide variety of clients(go ahead, ask me anything about engineered standards or breast implants) and coached many writers seeking to cast their own thought shadows (my niece will tell you I’m the go-to guy for help with reports and term papers).

I’ll be casting shadows until long after I’m demographically irrelevant to national advertisers. I'd love to be casting them for you.