Background Information

I was born in Huntington, West Virginia in 1975.  I was raised about fifteen minutes from there in Kenova, West Virginia. After graduating Ceredo-Kenova High School with very high honors, I attended Marshall University in Huntington where I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science graduating with high honors in May 1997. From there, I went to the West Virginia University College of Law in Morgantown, West Virginia where I graduated Order of the Coif (top 10% of my class) in 2000. That same year, I passed the West Virginia state bar examination. Today, I work as an attorney for the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals in the Chief Counsel's Office.

Accomplishments

• Order of the Coif (2000)
• West Virginia Rehabilitant of the Year (2000)

Additional Information

As a member of a People to People Ambassador Programs delegation, I traveled to Beijing and Shanghai, China in March 2002 to discuss internet commerce and international law with Chinese lawyers.  My experiences from the trip inspired me to write my second collection of short stories, The Gate of Heavenly Peace . . . and Other Stories.  It'll be out soon.

As a successful attorney in West Virginia, I've frequently been asked to talk about what it’s like to live with a disability. For example, I served as the keynote speaker at the 2002 PATHS Conference on assistive technology before 200 to 300 people at the Charleston Civic Center. Most recently, I spoke about the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Youth Disability Caucus Reunion/Summer FUNdmentals Youth Camp at Camp Virgil Tate in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, during August of 2008. The people I've met traveling around West Virginia for my speaking engagements has given me a lot of inspiration for my night job as a writer.

Favorite Links

• E-I-E-I-OY!: How I Became a Jewish Farmer in Middletown, America by Rich Ossias
• The Musical Hayes Family Of West Virginia by Dana W. Smith, II