Database

I am comfortable writing basic queries, creating tables, and performing other low-level database work with MySQL (via PHPMyAdmin or command line) and MS SQL 2008 (via Management Studio). I have crafted a few stored procedures and have a basic understanding of query optimization. Additionally, I have a solid understanding of how sites interact with databases, and have written several simple PHP/MySQL-driven interfaces, including comment boxes, basic news systems, and a prototype of a secure login system.

Back-End Development

I have written many thousands of lines of PHP code, and a couple hundred lines of C++ and C#. This includes working with session variables, database interaction, front-end templating, and more. I am comfortable with structured programming concepts, including Object Oriented code, and try to work with accepted best practices. Just don't ask me to work without a language reference!

While I don't claim to be a Software Engineer, I know enough to make many tweaks without having to bother engineers (and without breaking anything). My knowledge also helps me communicate and work with back-end developers, and because I've been on both sides of the front-end/back-end dividing line, I work very hard to write clean, readable, well-commented code that engineers love to work with.

Front-End Development

I've been designing and building websites professionally since 1997. That's fifteen years of experience, and if I do say so myself: I'm good at it. I write clean, semantically correct, standards-compliant code that's built to run on a wide variety of browsers, and I do it fast. I keep accessibility and best practices firmly in mind, and I try never to take the "duct tape and chewing gum" approach to my work without getting so hung up on perfection that it delays development – I like to iterate and roll out often.

I keep informed and up-to-date on the latest techniques and technologies. I love building sites in Photoshop and bringing them to life in a text-editor or IDE (I use Visual Studio, Dreamweaver, and Sublime Text most often). I love experimenting with new HMTL5 and CSS3 properties, and I've come to really enjoy JavaScript and jQuery. Modern web technologies can help produce amazing sites with ultra-clean code, which is fantastic. Even better: they're just amazingly fun to work with. You can learn more about my abilities in the sections listed on the right, or just continue paging through.

Design

I acquired my first PC and a copy of a DOS-based paint program in 1986, and began a love-affair with digital design that lasts to this day. I first gained access to a copy of Adobe Photoshop on a Mac at a summer job when I was sixteen, and it's been a part of my life ever since. The amazing thing is: I still learn new things about the program with regularity.

I've designed more websites than I can count, from brochure sites for local businesses to enterprise-level sites for companies like GameSpy and OkCupid. While my current work tends to be more on the scripting and coding side, I still try to keep my design chops honed by working on personal sites such as this one. Because I have so much experience on the code side, I am very structured and specific in my design, adhering to pixel grids and being meticulous in my layout and organization. I design with HTML and CSS in mind.

HTML & CSS

I began with HTML 2 – font tags and table layouts – and am not sorry to have moved on. HTML5 and CSS3 are amazing technologies that have removed most of the tediousness of web scripting and left the parts that are fun! Whether writing my own sites or working within an existing templating framework, I'm comfortable and highly competent in both languages, able to bring just about any design to life on the web.

I write code that's clean, standards-compliant, and well-commented. I am up-to-date on current optimization methods and I try to use as many as a project will allow. I read blogs, Twitter, and Tumblr to learn new techniques and I try to visit a conference such as jQConf or An Event Apart at least once a year (more if I can afford it!). Currently I have been exploring time-saving technologies like SASS and HAML, and I make use of community projects like HTML5 Boilerplate often.

JavaScript & jQuery

For many years, JavaScript was "that thing I used to do mouseovers" ... but those days are long past. For the past five years or so I have been focused heavily on JavaScript, to the point where in my current work, I spend as much or more time working with JS as I do with HTML and CSS combined. I work predominantly with jQuery and its plugins, but have also used the Prototype and MooTools frameworks. I can also write raw JavaScript when needed, but ignoring the brilliant frameworks out there is just a recipe for a lot of wasted time, so I usually don't.

At this point I would classify myself as a mid-level JavaScript programmer. I understand objects and Object Oriented Code, I'm comfortable with complex functions, I'm highly familiar with AJAX and JSON, and I can rapidly learn and manipulate just about any jQuery plugin that comes along. I still use a language reference frequently, and I'm still constantly seeking to learn more (reading blogs, checking Stack Overflow, re-reading JavaScript: The Good Parts, etc). Currently I am looking into advanced JavaScript training at Bocoup, in Boston.

Cocktails & Beer

Over the past few years, I've become fascinated with the history, manufacture, and use of liquor and beer (I enjoy wine, too, but am not quite so into studying it). I own numerous books on cocktail mixology and history, beer tasting, and brewing. I've brewed several of my own partial-grain beer recipes to an enjoyable level of success, and I've also created many of my own cocktails.

In addition to being paid to write cocktail articles for Primer Magazine (see the Non-Fiction section), one of my cocktails also won the grand prize in the amateur arm of Tanqueray's "Best T&T" contest in late 2009, earning me a prize package that included a trip to New York City and a "Cocktail Tour" visiting several great bars around the city. While I doubt I'll ever tend bar professionally, I continue to be fascinated by this world, and I experiment with new drinks often!

Writing

I took my first serious stab at writing short stories when I was nine years old, and by fifteen I had completed a 400-page novel (it's ... not very good). I continued writing fiction through high school and into my twenties, and also began to write a lot of non-fiction for GameSpy, Crispy Gamer, Primer Magazine, and other publications.

In 2009, I released my first novel, The Blood That Bonds, as a free eBook on the internet. It has since gone on to be downloaded at least 400,000 times and has earned 3.5-star reviews across the internet. The sequel, Blood Hunt, was released in September, 2011 as a $2.99 eBook and has sold more than 22,000 copies, receiving even better reviews that the first book. The third book in the trilogy, The Children of the Sun, is due to be released on November 12, 2012.

You can learn more about my writing using the links in the right column, by visiting my writing blog, linked at the top of the page, or by continuing to page through.

Novels

I have written several novels and published two so far, with the third coming out on November 12th. Consisting of The Blood That Bonds, Blood Hunt, and The Children of the Sun, the II AM Trilogy has gained fans all over the world with its combination of a dark, gritty and violent world, and themes of love, hope and redemption. The trilogy is a vampire series that appeals to people who love the genre and to people who typically don't.

I have two other novels in production. The Broken God Machine is a coming of age story set in a shattered sci-fi world. It is currently under editorial review and will be shopped to agents and publishers in the near future. Morgan Skylark and the Monster Hunters is a young adult book that has gone through a first draft and is awaiting revision.

I write my novels during my nights and weekends, and I handle all of the formatting for eBook and print myself, including hiring my own editors and illustrators. Managing the writing, production, distribution and marketing of these books entirely in my spare time is a challenge, but an immensely rewarding one.

Short Stories

While I mainly focus on longer works, I've written dozens of short stories in my life, in genres ranging from mainstream fiction, to horror, to sci-fi, to fantasy, and beyond. I've made many of these available for free on my writing blog, and I have also had two of them accepted for publication. "By Zombies; Eaten" was published in Greatest Uncommon Denominator Magazine, and "Watchers" was published in Aurora Wolf Literary Journal.

In addition to short stories, I have written two novellas – Voices, a story about a group of young adults living in New York who discover they have super powers, and Persephone's Fall, a modern retelling of the Greek myth of Persephone. Both are available for free on my writing blog.

Non-Fiction

I began writing non-fiction as a teenager, producing a series of articles on graphics production for the online publication DemoNews in the mid-90s. From there I moved on to writing about texture design for the gaming site loonygames. During my five years at GameSpy I wrote a wide variety of articles, editorials, reviews and other non-fiction about video games and the video game industry, and I continued this trend with Crispy Gamer. Recently, I have written several articles for Primer MagazinePrimer Magazine about the world of spirits and cocktails.

You can find a pretty comprehensive list of my non-fiction writing over on my writing blog.

Textures

I became interested in making seamless, tiling textures for video games after the release of Quake 2 in 1997. The availability of free modification tools, combined with my existing Photoshop abilities, allowed me to experiment and learn with abandon, and I had soon parlayed a portfolio full of texture work into interest from several video game companies. During this time I ran an enthusiast website called The Texture Studio, where I released hundreds of free textures to the gaming community. I also worked as a freelancer on an engine demo for a small group of programmers who ended up being hired by Valve Software, and I likely would have ended up working in the industry as well had I not chosen to take the GameSpy job instead.

In 2003 I began working with Cliff Bleszinski at Epic Games as a web designer, but my texture work eventually allowed me to contribute to both Unreal Tournament 2003 and Unreal Tournament 2004 as a freelancer. I have also used my textures extensively in my web design. I still dabble in texture work, and use my own photo source often to create backgrounds for websites.

Game Design

This section should really be called "things that relate to video games but aren't texture work" ... but that seems kind of long and awkward to try and fit in a little box.

In addition to making textures for video games, I have also been involved in other aspects of their creation. I was paid to set up and manage some internal forums and an asset gallery for Epic Games on the title that eventually became Gears of War. I have also created user interface, icon, and decal graphics for games like Unreal Tournament 2003, Bubble Bomb, and a game that a few friends and I were working on for a while, Psycho Saucers (I also did the 3D models and skins for that game).

Beyond graphics, I have also written documentation and scripts for a few game and game modification ideas, including a survival horror game that would tie in with a novel I intend on writing in the future.