So, here’s the bio which will appear in the “end matter” of my novel.  End matter is a new term for me; so I’m having fun using it; but I think you know what end matter is: it’s that extra junk they include at the end of the story which you might read if a) the book is interesting enough to finish and b) you really, really enjoyed the story.  But if you’re a writer like me, you probably read the end matter first, to see what the author is all about.  Bios, however, are notoriously bland and uninformative and they all, pretty much, sound the same.  I’ll admit, mine isn’t much different.

I suppose the reason bios are bland and uninformative is because authors are generally recluses—we’re not all that comfortable with strangers (like the people who make up our audiences).  Don’t get me wrong, we like people and we love our audiences.  We just don’t like spending too much time around them.  We like solitude better.  In that, we’re different from celebrities.  So the bio kind of reflects that, the fact that we prefer solitude, I mean.  Maybe I’ll say more about this another time; I just thought you deserved an explanation as to why the “About the Author” sections are so boring.  You do know, probably, that authors are often colorful characters, despite their bios?

Anyway, here’s mine:

about the author

A native of California, Dale Tucker spent much of his childhood in Palo Alto and Fresno before the family moved to north-central Idaho in the late 1960s.  Over the next four decades, he graduated high school, raised a family, earned a degree in English, and explored a number of career paths, including church minister, abstract painter, and museum curator.  2006 saw the redirection of his artistic energies as he transitioned from painting to writing with a focus on literary fiction.  Themes that appeal particularly to Dale are issues related to poverty, simplicity of living, and spirituality.  Wanderer Come Home is his first novel and addresses all three of these themes.

Dale is currently retired and spends his time writing, cooking, Nature-watching, and gardening at his home, sheltered in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina with his soulmate, Kathryn, and his Manx cat, Dill.