At some point in 1989 I sat on the floor doodling on an American Family Insurance calendar. I remember taking inspiration from the angled look of the old Bugs Bunny cartoons and the characters of Berke Breathed's Bloom County.
C A L E N D A R became G A L E N D O R and that was that. No plans, no dreams, just a bored nerd upstairs in a 100+ year-old farm house with only a wood stove downstairs for heat and no AC. (See what I did there? I 'showed' we weren't privileged vs. 'telling')
In the quiet moments between high school homework, chores, video games and struggling to NOT grow up, I would imagine more characters and doodle.
Graduating in 1991 and heading straight to the US Navy, the culture shock from rural farm life to the military during and after the Gulf War left little time for imagining!
During a particularly tough section of Navy Radar "A" school, the geeks across the hall asked if I'd like to come watch Robotech. That one didn't play back home alongside Transformers, GI Joe, Thundercats or Brave Starr, so it was a whole new world!
I was blown away by Robotech's love triangle set against the backdrop of an alien invasion.
Having been through the battle of first love and getting jilted, I really identified with the characters. I loved and hated that darned LYNN MINMAY!
The voices of Minmay and Lisa Hayes were diametrically opposed just as were their characters. Minmay sounded effervescent but flighty, Lisa's voice was leathery, no-nonsense yet melancholy. As I continued to develop my female character, I imagined her voice sounding youthful like whomever did the U.S. Lynn Minmay.
My dreams involved developing the ideas enough to pitch them to someone else and have a team turn it into something marketable.
"There were no delusions that I could be writer."
I drew the adventures of my characters throughout my 6-year stint in the military and beyond.
Met Joy in 1993, married in 1998
A classmate from MMDC and I started a cell phone game company. I enlisted a great programmer from Full Sail and we were showing 2 prototypes with a 3rd on the way to folks like Disney Interactive. Things didn't pan out.
Though a nerd, I never got into D&D. Full Sail, "Rules of the Game" was taught by Dave Arneson. I couldn't figure out why so many stoner kids were falling out to meet him.
I love video games. I'll become a game designer, get into the industry and the game company will help me develop Galendor! My team created TOMBFALL! The first complete game from the upstarting Full Sail game design course.
Navy - Learjet Wichita, KS
Learjet - Full Sail University Orlando, FL
Full Sail Instructor - Dave Arneson
Turns out my first and only D&D game session was Dungeon Mastered by the co-creator of the dad gum thing!
SEGA Designer - Yuji Naka
My time to geek out was meeting Sonic the Hedgehog and Phantasy Star creator Yuji Naka at the GDC 2002.
Full Sail University - USS Ronald Reagan Newport News, VA - N.O.C. Multi Media Digital Communications
M.M.D.C -Startek Office Enid, OK - Advance Pierre Foods - Liberty University BFA (Summa Cum Laude)
Design jobs didn't come and I had to fall back on my Navy/Learjet skills to keep us afloat. We found a 3D computer animation course in Tonakawa, OK of all places. I'll become a 3D modeler and the animation company I go to will help me develop Galendor!
Nobody is going to help you develop Galendor! Just write the thing. By 2006 I finally put pen to paper and wrote what may turn out to be my swan song. It took three years to write the first 130,000-word draft which I began to shop around. It took another 4 years to find Wee Creek Press who took a chance on me. Steven Womack encouraged me to re-think it as a trilogy.
I re-designed Wee Creek's logo and web presence, assisting with their Tommy Two Shoes Literacy Project. My time and friendship with Wee Creek Press is cherished. I'm saddened they had to close their doors due to Parkinson's Disease (which took my father-in-law).
Harper Industries Inc. - Harper, KS / Enid, OK
Thirty years and counting...
Michael Bell: Voice of Grouchy Smurf, Parkay BUTTER!, G1 Transformers Swoop, Sideswipe, G.I. Joe's Duke and so many others!
Weird Al wrote a children's book and I went to his signing. I wonder if he'll ever reciprocate?
Galendor is out of print as I work on re-branding. I'm pooling all of our resources to engineer fully voice-acted audiobooks using local talent, hiring some beloved professionals and my own skills as a vocal enthusiast. I might have Book I audio done by summer of 2025 God willing.
