Resumé - Download a printable version by clicking on one of the links to the right.


SUMMARY

Accomplished freelance writer and editor with six years of experience bringing various projects to completion, including:  newsletters, web content, articles, corporate communication materials, technical reports, and books.


WORK EXPERIENCE

Freelance Writer, 1999 to present

Write copy for proposals, reports, magazine articles, and books for diverse clients.  Consistently meet tight deadlines while delivering top-quality materials.

Key accomplishments:
- Wrote a monthly column for Skin & Ink magazine which proved so popular that my name became a regular part of each cover.
- Created several web sites including all graphics, content (FAQs, how-to articles, advertising, newsletters, informational articles), and HTML.
- Wrote technical reports for large projects, taking raw data through analysis, interpretation, and delivery, including maps, illustrations, and covers.  Effective in completing a project which had stalled over political and contractual issues.
- Edited and wrote copy for a museum exhibit design proposal to the Chicago Historical Society, resulting in a multi-year contract.
- Created/edited the first draft of a 1,500 page book (several authors in different countries, hundreds of illustrations) that had languished for decades (published in 2003).
- Wrote two non-fiction books on tattoos.  One is to be published in June of 2005 and the other is the most popular tattoo book at Amazon.com.

Lab Director, Ancient Enterprises, 2001 to 2003
My primary duties involved writing and synthesizing archaeological data.  Occasionally, they let me dig.

Lecturer, UCLA, 1999 to 2003
Developed and taught courses in Archaeology and Anthropology, including nearly 100 lectures and PowerPoint presentations.

Content Manager, IQ Magic, 2001
Managed content and design of museum exhibits for a new Native American museum in Palm Springs, CA (Agua Caliente Cultural Museum).

Owner and Operator, EmpireNet, 1995 to 2001
This internet service provider operated profitably after only six months and was eventually sold to a regional company.  From business cards, brochures, and fliers to web sites and ads, I wrote content for (and designed) everything that it takes to make a business run.

Advertising Designer, 1993 to 1997
My ads for various companies appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Computer Currents, Corona This Month, and other magazines plus television.

Systems Engineer, 1982 to 1993
An eleven year sojourn in the land of aerospace engineering where I used my physics degree to coordinate people with engineering degrees. I regularly wrote technical procedures and reports, edited manuals, and documented software.


PARTIAL LIST OF PUBLICATIONS

Books

Ink:  The Not-Just-Skin-Deep Guide to Getting a Tattoo (Penguin, June 2005)

The Tattoo Encyclopedia: A Guide to Choosing Your Tattoo (2003)

Spanish Missions and Native Religion: Contact, Conflict, and Convergence (2002)


Selected Articles 

What Tattoos Mean, Skin & Ink (monthly column)

Deeper Than Skin, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Fall 2003

The Archaeology of Compassion, The Humanist, May/June 2003

Inked Well:  A Guy's Guide to Tattoos, Playboy.com

Newsletters

What's New This Month at TattooSymbol.com, May 2003 to February 2004

Have You Heard Me?, Westside Toastmasters Club newsletter.

'And both parents are fond of their children...', Backdirt


EDUCATION

Ph.D., Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1999
M.A., Archaeology, University of California, Los Angeles, 1996
B.S., Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, 1982