About ME
This is me getting a super-great idea.
THE SHORT VERSION
After spending countless hours reading books to my three kids, I decided to try my hand at writing and illustrating children's books—this was about 20 years ago now. Since then, I’ve sold about two dozen. It's been a total blast! I've visited schools all over the country. I've also talked to thousands of kids about writing, illustrating and the value of imagination. Plus, I’ve received tons of incredible letters and emails from parents and kids. So far, I’ve published chapter books, early readers and picture books. I’m now working on my first middle-grade novel.
Look, I had so much dang hair!
THE LONG VERSION
Younger Years
I grew up in a house with my six brothers in San Jose, California. I'm the middle child of seven boys. As you might imagine, it was a noisy, hectic, never-a-dull-moment kind of house. I spent a lot of time playing board games, having sock fights, building forts, playing pickle and Nerf football, avoiding chores, and watching The Three Stooges and Speed Racer on TV. I enjoyed drawing pictures, juggling, reading books and magazines about monster movies, and learning about magic tricks and magicians. I also read comic books, mostly Daredevil, Spider-Man and Batman. I never once used a cell phone, a computer or the internet—because they hadn’t been invented yet!
Me in my football-playing days.
High School Daze
Yup, that’s me on the left, backstage in costume.
In high school, I did just about everything except my homework. I knew I was smart, creative and funny, but my teachers didn’t seem to care about any of that; most were only interested in my ability to memorize things and repeat them back on tests. I felt many of my classes were dull and I filled my notebooks with pages and pages of doodles, which were often confiscated for some reason. However, I did have a lot of fun outside of the classroom. I played football for four years, performed in school plays, participated in the speech and debate club, drew cartoons for the school paper and yearbook, and worked hard on earning the title of Class Clown, which I won my senior year in a landslide (my parents were so proud!). I even started doing stand-up comedy at local comedy clubs while in high school. I really liked entertaining people and making them laugh.
Dave Goes to College
At San Diego State University, I spent two years as a Theater Arts major studying acting before I switched to English in my junior year, after I went crazy for books. I started reading books in every spare moment of my day. I was suddenly hooked on books! In college, I did some stand-up comedy and drew cartoons for my college's daily newspaper—which helped fund my love of pizza! I also spent hours in the library researching random topics that I was curious about—everything from castle construction and how bats see at night to the purpose of earwax. I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
Work Life
Me and my kids in our peak book-reading days.
After college, my creativity and drawing skills came in handy working in advertising as a copywriter and later as a creative director. I started my own advertising agency with my wife Christine. After twelve years of running that business, I went to work for big companies as a copywriter and creative director. I’ve done tons of radio and TV commercials, written every kind of advertising project out there, and won lots of cool awards. All that time writing for work really came in handy when I started writing children’s books.
Family Life
My wife Christine and I have three grown-up children (two girls and a boy), a tortoise named Shelly, and a dog named Fiona. In my spare time, I like to think of new ideas, write books, draw, go the movies, lift weights, learn new words, hang out in bookstores, read books and root for the Golden State Warriors. I started writing children's books about 20 years ago and sold my first book three years later. I’ve now sold about 25 books or so (I’ve lost count). I hope to sell many more in the future.