Credentials & Experience

• More than 35 years of archival research and university-level experience
• Former publisher and managing editor of National Guard Review (1996–2003); interviewed dozens of congressional representatives, members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presidential candidates, corporate executives, and soldiers on three continents
• Provided heritage consulting to distinguished families on record preservation and reconstructing lost family histories
• Author of multiple novels, dozens of short stories, a novella series, academic curricula, and five major ghostwritten family histories based on unpublished historical records
• Former member of West Virginia’s America250 Commission
• Consulted for major universities on veterans, entrepreneurship, and academic programs
• Consulted for major defense and aerospace companies
• U.S. Army veteran with a B.A. in Political Science from Marshall University, and an M.A. in History from UNC Wilmington
• Reformed former financial advisor for major Wall-Street firm
• Deep expertise in American history, with particular focus on the Colonial, Revolutionary, Constitutional, and Federalist periods, as well as 20th-century diplomatic and military history. Additional work in behavioral economics and entrepreneurship
• Married for over 34 year and lives in West Virginia

Most recently, he completed a comprehensive multi-generational family history for former U.S. Congressman David McKinley covering the family’s establishment in Ireland and America from 1650 to 1783.

As an aside, yes, that’s my dog. 

What I Do

Ghostwriting & Heritage Consulting – I research and write family histories, military memoirs, and historical narratives for veterans, distinguished families, and private clients. I also provide heritage research and consulting to help families organize archives and shape meaningful stories from primary sources.

For those who prefer a more hands-on role, I offer guidance in select projects to develop customized research frameworks and best practices, allowing clients to actively participate in preserving their family’s legacy.

How I Use Fiction

I’m the author of the Fading Darkness trilogy—historical thrillers set on the Virginia frontier in the tense years leading up to the American Revolution. Right now I’m working on a new series of short WWII novels that begins with In the Ashes, following an ordinary soldier through the war’s final year. I’ve also written the near-future techno-thriller Remnant: The Boreasby Blueprint and a collection of short stories called Stories From Middle America.

There is a mountain of stories from World War II that need telling. The series that begins with In the Ashes is one small attempt to show current generations what men like my grandfather experienced. I chose to write it as fiction. Like Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, fiction can capture not only the facts of past events, but the emotions of the people who lived through them. It is impossible to understand war unless you can feel what those who fought it felt. That requires fictional dialogue and character development.

Additionally, most Americans get their first taste of history through movies, television, and historical fiction books. Only a small (but dedicated) fraction of the reading public consistently reads historical nonfiction. I want these stories to appeal to a mass audience. Hopefully, the truth behind the fiction I write will inspire them to go out and learn about the actual events and people from our nation’s past.

Approach

History is not nostalgia — it is a working compass. Whether writing fiction or working with private clients, I combine scholarly rigor with clear, powerful narrative. My goal is to tell stories that are grounded, honest, and true to the people who lived them.