Inigo: "Who are you?"
The man in black: "No one of consequence."
Inigo: "I must know."
The man in black: "Get used to disappointment."

--From 'The Princess Bride'

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Hello.
Well, I'm not quite as secretive as that guy, but unlike him I really am no one of consequence.
My email might read 'DreamSmith', but in actuality my name is Alan. Not 'Allan' or Allen; ALAN. I live it in semi-large but basically undistinguished city, in the American midwest. I'm over twenty-one, have a full-time job (just not a very good one), and am much nicer than first impressions might lead one to believe.
So... want to know how we got here? (I'll take that silence as a 'yes')
Okay, it went like this:
I was born (obviously), went to school (and got through it). I might have actually learned something during those years, except my reading schedule filled all my time. Not school books, (that would have been CRAZY!). No, these were Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels, and I read a lot of them.
At age sixteen I bought a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons basic set (as a gift for a friend of mine). It wasn't long before I was appointed the game ref, and many years of gaming followed, with me running AD&D, Star Frontiers, Marvel Superheroes, and ShadowRun.
Now, you might be thinking 'Hey! He's into Dungeons and Dragons; what a geek!'
Well, you're not wrong. ^_^
RPG's aren't everyone's thing, I'll admit. However, if you're running one, and doing it well (and I like to believe that I did it well, most of the time), then you learn a few things about creating characters and telling a story. So I was in training for the future without even realizing it.
In late spring or early summer of 1999 I wrote a short story. It wasn't my intention to write a short story; I started typing something else (something game-related, actually), and some long-ignored circuit closed inside my brain and the thing just burst out of me and onto the screen. Intrigued by this phenomenon, I tried to write something on purpose. Chapter One of 'A Thing of Terrible Beauty' was the result. I showed it to some people, and they said it was good. They directed me to the mailing lists (-Buffy- and BBETA) and I posted that and Day One of 'Ninety-Six Days' there. Several people there also said that the stories were good, including Diana.
Which leads me to where I am now. Well over a year later, I'm on the brink of going for the dream; writing professionally. It's scary; I've lived my life up to this point without much in the way of ambition. Going for something like this, trying to seriously belive that I have a real shot at achieveing it... it isn't easy, especially when you have as low an opinion of yourself as I do.
(When I tell you people that I can't believe you like the stories as much as you say you do, I'm not kidding. I just don't see myself as having any talent, but some of you guys seem to think differently.)
Anyway, in addition to the fanfic you see on these pages I'm now working on some original material. Publishers being the odd types that they are, I'll probably play it safe and not post that stuff here, at least not until (I hope!) someone buys it, and lets me know the ground rules.
So there you go; that's what I'm doing now. If you want to know more stuff about me (Why, I have no idea) then just wait a little while; I'll probably put up more material, including pictures of me and my cat. In any event, I very much appreciate your interest in my work, and I hope you enjoy it.
I'm honored that you've spent the time to read anything that I've written. Thank you.