About
The ability to tell a compelling story in a clear and concise manner that anybody can understand has always been my strength and my passion.
When I’m not writing a new story, I’m usually reading a new story, watching a new story, or walking around observing the world around me while putting together a new story in my mind. Like a mathematician thinks in numbers, an athlete thinks in physical movements, and a musician thinks in notes and verses, I think in story.
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I will always enjoy the thrill of invention and the freedom of exploration that comes with writing fiction, but since 2019 I developed an undeniable passion for creating compelling narratives based on actual events and real people, and I discovered that telling true stories as faithfully as possible to be as rewarding as it is challenging. That passion led to the publication of the nonfiction book, After The Flames: A Burn Victim's Battle with Celebrity, by Dundurn Press, which is available at Amazon, Indigo, and select bookstores, and the completion of my newest nonfiction book, tentatively titled, Humanitarian and Compassionate: An Inside Look at the Canadian Immigration System During the Covid-19 Pandemic and its Aftermath, that received grants from the Canadian Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council and I'm currently seeking a publisher for.
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Some of the storytellers that have inspired me over the years include, Joseph Heller, Cervantes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nas, Alejo Carpentier, Graham Greene, Wu-Tang Clan, Dante, Dostoyevsky, Masta Ace, Elena Poniatowska, Tolstoy, Jay-Z, Tucker Max, Violeta Parra, Solzhenitsyn, Juan Rulfo, Jose Saramago, David Milch, Eminem, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Kendrick Lamar, Vince Gilligan, George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Notorious B.I.G., Rosario Castellanos, C.L.R. James, Joseph Conrad, David Simon, Steinbeck, Rodolfo Walsh, Toni Morrison, DMX, John Hersey, Hemingway, Jose Rizal, Honore de Balzac, Alan Moore, Rod Serling, Victor Hugo, Mel Brooks, Hunter S. Thompson, Charlie Booker, Malcolm X, Dave Chappelle, Robin Williams, Slick Rick, Genndy Tartakovsky, Vonnegut, Anabel Hernandez, Ken Burns, Residente, V.S. Naipul, OutKast, Luis Bunuel, Jonny Steinberg, Stanley Kubrick, AZ, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Trey Parker & Matt Stone, Richard Wright, Tupac Shakur, Upton Sinclair, Jordan Peterson, Eduardo Galeano, Mobb Deep, Stephen Biko, Donald Woods, Francis Ford Coppola, Miguel Angel Asturias, Jared Keeso, Noah Hawley, James Baldwin, John Kennedy Toole, Lydia Cacho, Victor Jara, Weird Al Yankovic, Brad "Scarface" Jordan, Mike Judge, Mark Twain, RA The Rugged Man, Chinua Achebe, and many, many more.
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An avid traveler since I was 18, I have been to dozens of countries, all of which have exposed me to an array of perspectives from a variety of people. Travel is an addiction to me, so when I’m not somewhere else I’m almost always thinking about being somewhere else, and it’s those travels, which included living in Mexico for a decade and Argentina for 2 years, that have led to the creation of the novels, Carrion, The Spirit of Laughter, Wedlock and my first Spanish language book, a novella titled, Gato y Lobo, which was based on real events and was independently released and read by high school students in the Mexican states of San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, and Puebla, as well as Mexico City.
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Since 2020 I have prepared over 100 Humanitarian and Compassionate Applications for Canadian failed refugees in an effort to prevent their deportation and secure their permanent residency. This work is incredibly rewarding because it enables me to understand and absorb real stories by the people who have lived every word, stories that I then get to interpret and express as compellingly and empathetically as my abilities permit, all for the purpose of helping the people who shared those stories with me attain what they have worked so hard to get. If that doesn't illustrate the power of storytelling then I don't know what to tell you.
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If you are a Canadian immigration lawyer or immigration consultant, or a storyteller looking for assistance in developing and/or editing their work, click the button below to get a more detailed explanation of the services I offer.