: About Me

My name is Tom. I'm a 40-something, happily married, crazed collector of toys and pop culture. My childhood was a forest road romp home from school, a late afternoon bowl of Quisp (yes, I spoiled my dinner!) and Gilligan's Island before dad got home to watch the news. I made models, read comics and stayed away from the dark places in the woods. My imagination was a friend and an enemy, but always there! I hated school and really just wanted to dream, play, and make up stories in my head. Toys, toys, toys, and toys. Yes, that last sentence just has the word "toys" in it, but that sums it all up perfectly. I'm sure there was normal '70s era strife around me, but I wouldn't have ever noticed.
Then in 1977 something happened, it happened to a lot of us...Star Wars came out. My love of spaceships, aliens, and monsters exploded like so much Death Star across the blackness of my mind. Yes, prior to that I watched Channel 11 Sunday afternoon science fiction & monster movies....that is what we had up til then and we liked it, loved it even. Star Wars was something different though, it looked different, acted different, it was perfect. A gritty universe of good and evil where vehicles and ships were rundown and dusty environments offset gleaming spaceship hallways. It was industrial yet human. Aliens, robots, and humanoids interacted like they had been for thousands of years. George Lucas presented us with what we had been waiting for. It seemed right and I was in awe. I followed and collected and consumed like a good devotee. The natural progression of things naturally progressed, friends, girls, college, cars, love, heartbreak and love again. I branched out into lots of hobbies while keeping collecting a central theme. I haven't "put away childish things" but keep them with me in a reasonable head and on an office shelf. I'm a Star Wars collector and a fan (not the dress-up crazy kind of fan...but the good kind), a vintage toy collector, an antique collector and seller of both. I like everything Pop Culture, TV, Music, Movies...it goes on and on. My workspace is a virtual museum, thousands of toys and memorabilia items. I'll write on these things and more.

My passion is ...

Collecting and learning about past things.

I know too much about ...

Vintage toys & popular culture

My parents always told me ...

Do whatever you want, we'll be there to hold you up or pick you up if you fall.

My childhood ambition ...

The Movie biz in some way.

My favorite memory ...

My stateside Hawaiian wedding, magical.

Why I write ...

I write for business and it was pleasurable, now I'll write for both.

What I am reading/watching/listening to ...

Well......Lost on TV (sorry, obvious I know), lots of comics, online radio... lounge to hair metal.

My first job ...

I worked on vintage cars.

My best moment ...

The day I let the past go, and realized life was wonderful !

My inspiration ...

My father & mother, my uncle, and my grandparents. They have all made me what I am.

Creative Writing > Novel Excerpts Novel excerpts: Horror

31 of 73

The apartment was dark, couches, rugs, and lamps that were normally rich colors in the light, now all shades of grayish blue. He could see enough to set up his equipment though. Trevor looked at his watch, it was 11:02 PM, and he was trying to be quiet knowing he wasn't even supposed to be there. He carefully pulled out the legs of a tripod and opened a black hard case. He intended to set up two wireless IR cameras, a regular video camera, and two digital audio recorders. Each would cover a different area in the DeCarl's apartment. The floor creaked with every guarded step and he gritted h...

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