I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  As a youth I harbored a dream of being a writer.  I envisioned a future sipping some sort of fancy alcoholic drink (I was a kid, so the drink part was pretty vague) while sitting on my terrace overlooking the Mediterranean.  That sounded like my kind of lifestyle.  However, as I grew older, I realized that it was not a very practical plan, so I put those dreams aside and went off to the University of Notre Dame to get a degree for the “real” world.  I graduated with a degree in Government, which frankly wasn’t that helpful in the “real” world after all.

South Bend can be pretty miserable in the winter, so I chose to start my post-collegiate career in the summer resort town of Cape May, New Jersey.  After four years of Indiana winters, a little Jersey shore time sounded good.

There wasn’t a lot of demand for political science majors at the shore at that time (there probably still isn’t), so I accepted a job as a dishwasher.  Hard work and a winning personality eventually allowed me to move up to the cushy position of desk clerk.  That’s the kind of career trajectory you can expect with the right education and attitude.

Unfortunately, summer ends eventually in New Jersey, so I moved on too, first to a construction job in Virginia, then to such prestigious positions as truck driver assistant (I got to ride around in the passenger seat a lot) and lifeguard.  I was finally able to escape winter forever by moving to South Florida.

Many years later, in the midst of an unfulfilling career in banking and financial services, I realized that what I still really wanted to do was write, even if it didn’t lead to that terrace over the Med.  So, I picked up my laptop and wrote a book for young readers (between the ages of about 8 and 12).  Uncertain Magic became available in book form in 2001, and followed in eBook format in 2010.  You can see an excerpt here, or even better, purchase a copy from Amazon.com here.

Unfortunately, it was not to be my ticket out of the world of business.  But the itch didn’t go away.  So, I wrote Bean Counter, an adult novel of murder and mayhem with an unfulfilled accountant as the central character.  (I wonder where that idea came from.)  I followed that up with two more mysteries, Dead Loss, and a Bean Counter sequel, Magna Finesse. Now a third Bean Counter book, Old Flame, is complete and available on Amazon.com. Check out my author page on Amazon for information.

If you would like to be notified when new works are available, please leave me your email address on the Contact Page.  I will only use your email address for the purposes of informing you about upcoming releases, and I will not resell it to spammers.  Or you can reach me at: taclark@taclark.net

Thanks.  I hope to hear from you.