Though I didn't realize it at the time, I found my professional calling while attending North Bend High School on the Oregon Coast in the 1980s. I started working on the school newspaper, soon launched my own music fanzine and inevitably set my sights on the School of Journalism at the University of Oregon. Though I eventually switched majors before graduating, I would nonetheless make writing my career after moving to Seattle in 1990.  

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I've worked as an editor for both local (The Rocket) and national publications (Canoe & Kayak), but writing, more than editing, is my first love, and from 2000 until today, I've made my living from writing—everything from marketing copy to magazine articles to long-running columns and, most recently, books. 

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Since 2020 I've been collaborating with musicians on their memoirs, and my latest book with Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil, A Screaming Life (William Morrow, 2026), was an instant  New York Times Bestseller. I've also worked with Exodus/Slayer guitarist Gary Holt on A Fabulous Disaster (Da Capo, 2025) and Mudhoney guitarist Steve Turner on Mud Ride (Chronicle Prism, 2023).