Throughout my life, there has been one constant, and that is books. I love to read. I was always a pretty good reader, but never a fast one.
Growing up in Houston, Texas in the 1970’s, somehow, I discovered comic books. I didn’t read the superhero comic books from Marvel and DC, I read other comics that starred Richie Rick (my favorite), Casper the Friendly Ghost, Little Lulu, Dot, Hot Stuff, Archie, and things like that. Sure, I read some superhero books and I remember liking the Fantastic Four, Superman, Ant-Man, and the Metal Men.
But, I wasn’t very interested in reading novels. That all changed when we moved to California in 1977 and I discovered a book in my seventh grade classroom by Robb White entitled The Lion’s Paw. That book started it all and I still have that copy of the book here at home. I eventually started reading The Hardy Boys and Alfred Hitchcock & the Three Investigators, all of which I recently unboxed and am reading again. It seems that I loved a good mystery.
I soon discovered Edgar Rice Burroughs. I fell in love with the Tarzan books, and was always amazed at how the movies and televisions series got the main character so wrong. He has never been portrays correctly. I also gobbled up Mr. Burroughs’ other series like John Carter of Mars, Carson of Venus, and Pellucidar. Plus, there was a plethora of stand-alone stories. They’re all pretty awesome.
Everything changed when I was in my junior year high school. While perusing the school library, I found a copy of Terry Brooks’ The Sword of Shannara. That book smacked me in the face and I knew I had found something pretty fantastic. I can still remember specific battle scenes in my head from that first reading. Finding Terry Brooks and the Shannara series lead me to other Fantasy authors, like Piers Anthony’s Xanth series, Alan Dean Foster’s Spellsinger series, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern series, Roger Zelazny’s The Chonicles of Amber series, Robert E. Vardeman’s Cenotaph Road series, and Robert Lynn Asprin’s Myth Adventures series. Fantasy became my favorite genre, with Science Fiction a close second.
In the mid-1990’s, I was approached by a friend that wanted me to write book reviews for her website. After writing many book reviews, and finding out I could get free books from the publishers, I created ReadingReview.com (no longer online), my own book review website. I wrote book reviews for almost twenty years for most of the major publishers. While writing book reviews for Wizards of the Coast, I discovered the fantastic character of Drizzt Do’Urden, created by R.A. Salvatore. I was in awe of this character and the world of Forgotten Realms. I even had the privilege of interviewing the author, and he is the one that really got me thinking about creating my own stories.
So many great Fantasy authors have made an impression on me and I feel like I carry a bit of them within my writing style. Thus began my journey to write the first book in the Amber Armor series entitled The Amber Swords. It was a struggle to get all the way though my first book. It took longer than expected, as I wasn’t quite sure what I was doing. There were times that I stopped writing and took a break from this story. Finally, I would go back, read what I had written, and get back to it. I’m happy it’s done and have already started on the second book in the series.
One of the times I took a break, I started a new book. An idea had been peculating in my brain for a while about somehow using the people, places, and things from Beatles songs. I have been a Beatles fan since the ninth grade and knew that there was a ton of good ideas in their songs just waiting to be weaved into a story. The book is entitled Maxwell Edison and the Silver Hammer. I am co-writing this with my daughter, Cierra Tigard. This one should be really cool.
As for me, I have done a lot of things in my life. I grew up in both Texas and California and I graduated from San Fransisco State University with a Science degree. I learned how to remodel houses by working for my father at Renovations by Tigard in Houston. I worked at SEGA of America as a game tester, lead, and a supervisor. I worked for Disney Online and Disney Interactive on Disney’s first pay website and other gaming software. I was a Boxboy, Landscaper, Bellman, Doorman, Documentation Specialist, Movie Theater Reviewer, Elementary/Middle School Teacher, and finally an I.T. Specialist at a school district.
As for hobbies, I enjoy mountain biking, reading (of course), writing, creating websites, the Denver Broncos, Welsh Corgis, and classic cars, specifically the Mercury Cougar. I am the President and founder of the High Desert Cougar Club of Oregon. I am also on the board for the Cougar Club of America and am the webmaster for that club.
I live with my beautiful wife, Nikki, in Central Oregon. We have a wonderful daughter named Cierra Tigard, who is also a teacher. We have a terrific tri-color Welsh Corgi named Loki, the Dog of Mischief.