What are you doing currently?
I work at the Education Department for the Fort Worth Zoo. I coordinate a wide range of programs from career camp, photo safaris, conservation programming, and an interactive nature program called Texas Nature Traders. I raise two rambunctious toddlers with my wife Heather. I read anytime my two kids give me a moment to relax. It breaks up endless Clifford the Big Red Dog and Madeline. When time allows I’m birding.
What position, if any, did you hold in eleven40seven?
BLS founding President and 1st EIC.
Spring and Fall 2005
What was your favorite part about being on staff?
My favorite part would be the meeting. Having a chance to socialize with other literary minded folk. Reading and reviewing all submissions and making the decisions to choose one piece over another would bring up really rewarding conversation about literature as a whole.
What knowledge and skills did you learn from being on staff that help you now?
Learning to work collaboratively to produce a final product on a dead line is really what I took away from being in eleven40seven as far as skills. Knowing and defining deadlines and getting things done is a great feeling.
What made you want to join/how did you hear about the magazine?
I remember seeing a flyer for starting a literary society/magazine. The free pizza on the sign also helped draw my attention. I transferred into TCU from Tarrant County Junior College (Harvard on the highway!) and really needed something to feel like i belonged at TCU. I found that in eleven40seven. From the first meeting when we set our goals and direction for the project I felt it would be something I would want to be apart of. I met two of my great friends, Leah Chappabitty and Chrissie Davenport, in our first meeting. I still talk to them to this day. I remember voting for the name of the society. There was a short lived moment that “The Writer’s Block” was on the table. To avoid this I suggested meeting times and our name be 11:47. There were laughs at first, but ultimately eleven40seven was voted for and we went to work under our new name.
What does “art” mean to you?
I like the idea of “art” being thought expressed through form. An artist or author’s attempt to relay their thoughts and emotion in a medium in which people can interact with is what art is for me. Getting a glimpse into the mind and someone else’s reality is a great opportunity that art allows.
Are you still creating art? If so, what are you working on?
It might be a bit cliche as a writer, but I have a novel I have been writing on for quite sometime. I feel my procrastination comes from the constant doubt of who would want to read historical fiction about coal mine murders and tragic circus accidents. I still write short fiction quite often, but tend to hoard it away in the cloud. I also have found the hobby of collaborative fiction in the form of Dungeons and Dragons. GMing a sandbox story and not knowing where the plot will go is an fantastic feeling.