From an early age, Tom had an attraction to the fantastic. His love of movies began at an early age when he saw Disney’s 20,0000 Leagues Under the Sea. Captain Nemo opened an entire world for Tom. He was thrilled to discover that it was a book. Nemo is Tom’s favorite fictional character, empathizing with the captain as he wages war on War itself. Tom has written a Star Trek novel in which the Enterprise discovers Nemo and his crew living in a terraformed solar system hidden within a nebula.
In the 4th grade, Tom read Flying Saucers: Serious Business by Frank Edwards. This had an enormous impact on Tom’s world view, for the Universe held infinite wonders. In short order, his research included Bigfoot, UFOs, Cryptozoology and Ancient Astronauts.
Tom has read as many SF, Fantasy and Horror stories as he could get his hands on. Among his favorites are H. P. Lovecraft, H. G. Wells and Richard Matheson. Sherlock Holmes introduced Tom to a series with a continuing character. From there, he found series with Spenser, Parker, Dortmunder, Conan, Gandalf and even Dracula. The possibilities for a series had great impact on Tom’s future writing.
In college, Tom wrote his first serious short story. Night of Fate concerned John Pentgram, an Anomalist who gets bitten by a werewolf. It has become the pivotal story in Pentgram’s life, with dozens of stories taking place both before and after the werewolf attack. This allows Tom to explore two different sides of a complex character.
Tom was introduced to War Games by his best friend, Pete, while in college. The two men have been inseparable since then, with each of them being the Best Man at the other’s wedding. Gaming is their shared obsession. Tom designed his first game in 1977, making a game based on the Death Star trench scene from Star Wars. In 2014, Tom helped design and publish Secrets of the Lost Tomb, a board game filled with details from all the things Tom has loved all his life.
Marriage to Tracy and the birth of their daughter Ariel added more perspective to Tom’s life. At the time of Ariel’s birth, Tom had written about 80% of War of the God Shards, a fantasy epic. He put aside this work for 27 years as he focused on raising his family. Recently, he has begun to revise this work with eyes on completing it finally.
Music also plays an important part in Tom’s life. He is immune to Top 40s radio and has discovered what he likes on his own. This has given him a very diverse musical appreciation. His favorite pieces are: “The Planets” by Gustav Holst, “Rhapsody in Blue” by Gershwin and “We Must Believe in Magic” by Crystal Gayle. His great music love is film music. A love for film music has gone with his love films. Tom has seen over 14,000 films. His favorite film is The Thing from Another World. It has been his favorite since Tom was ten years old.
On a more personal side, Tom and Ariel are avid bowlers. Their goal is to one day crack the 250-game barrier. Tom and his family live with three cats. Two of them are Rag Doll/Maine Coon mixed brothers named Thor and Loki. Their third cat is a polydactyl female named Gypsy.