Just because your whole life is going to hell doesn't mean you have to walk there.

I write novels and other things.

No, I don't autograph blank slips, checks, or stickers, and certainly no books without me in them.

I am also a Kentucky Colonel and an Honorary Mayor of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, among other things.

I am a registered Democrat (there are only two Republicans in Maryland and they're both in office) and two-time unsuccessful candidate for office myself.

Decadence is wonderful.

I have taught history on the high school and college levels, and am or have been a lecturer at the Smithsonian, The National Institutes of Health, and numerous colleges and universities, mostly on science fiction and technology subjects.