I'm a nationally published freelancer with bylines in major magazines. You can find my most recent articles in newsstand magazines like Mental Floss and History Magazine.

My web bestsellers appear on some of the best travel and health sites on the net, and I've recently signed a contract with a major greeting card company.

Somehow I've managed to cram a lot into the years I've lived. I've taught Shakespeare, sung in a rock band, published my own magazine, starred with a touring theatre company, and single-handedly organized an international conference on true crime.

I'm a strong believer that if you think your town is dull, it's your own fault. Change it!

You can find me rattling on about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the Boer War, bathing machines, Jack the Ripper and mustache waxing techniques over my favorite whiskey in my Southern hometown. If you're lucky you might catch me doing the same thing in London or Washington, D.C. (my most frequent research and travel destinations.)

An incorrigible word geek, I also construct New York Times-style crossword puzzles.

Random fact: my sister had a hamster named Helium whom she accused me of killing. That's not the whole story.

My passion is ...

Good writing, good books, good food and drink, good company

I know too much about ...

Weird Victoriana

My parents always told me ...

"Stop biting your nails." It never worked.

My childhood ambition ...

Archaeologist. I lorded it over the 1st grade that I could spell it, too.

My favorite memory ...

Being geeky in love under the shadow of Big Ben

Why I write ...

I have no choice. Ever since I conned a teacher into letting me singlehandedly create a newspaper for the whole school when I was in the fourth grade, I've been foisting my writing on people. Though I've advanced slightly from headlines like "Robbie is moving!" and "D.C. Has a Lot of Cats", the same zealousness is there.

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

Emile Zola's oeuvre

My first job ...

Toy store automaton

My best moment ...

This one.

My inspiration ...

Everything is an inspiration. I get twenty ideas while checking the mail.

Food & Drink > Coffee The best way to store coffee

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Sherlock Holmes had his Moriarty. Superman cowered in the face of Kryptonite. But for your coffee beans, no matter how powerful and robust they seem, the big enemies are air and moisture. Just a hint of exposure to these dastardly elements, and your coffee's precious oils -which are the source of all that yummy flavor- will disappear as fast as the Invisible Man. When you've spent hard-earned cash on expensive beans, how can you keep them as fresh as the day they were roasted?

The Whole (Bean) Truth

Step one to keeping your coffee beans fresh is to buy and store them in whole bean form. O...

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