Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A Little About Me

I just read Elana Johnson's blog post in which she tells the readers a bit about herself (she admits she got the idea from Ali Cross's blog), and I thought it wasn't a bad idea since I had never really done this myself. Perhaps no one is interested, but who knows?

So, a little about me...

I grew up in Arizona. I've been shy all my life, and perhaps even antisocial. I love being social, actually, but only with people that I really connect with. Small talk drives me nuts. I became passionate early on with both reading and music, but when I was 8 I discovered soccer and was completely in love. I was better at it than at anything else that mattered to me at the time. My brothers convinced me to join a baseball league one year, where as the starting pitcher I won every game and we won the championship, but it just wasn't my thing. I loved soccer and did very well at it. At the age of 16 a scout tried to convince my mom to let me sign for a pro team in Mexico City, but she wouldn't allow it.

Since there was no soccer in college at the time I finished high school, I suddenly had nothing to do. So, I started up three new hobbies -- guitar, basketball, and chess. I still love all of them, but when I shattered my left hand playing football in Beijing I could no longer fret properly, so guitar is pretty much out now. Chess became the thing I was best at, and it changed my life. I had been studying computer engineering in college, but since all the best chess grandmasters were from the Soviet Union, I switched my major (after 3.5 years!) to Russian Studies. Talk about changing one's life!

This led to me taking a job with the US State Department after graduation and going to work at the embassy in Moscow. This still ranks as my favorite time in life. I arrived in October, 1993, just as the coup attempt failed, with the tanks blasting away the Russian Parliament (which is right across the street from the embassy). Russia was a mess, but it was exciting there. I met so many fantastic people, including the two who remain my best friends to this day. I got to play chess against some great players, such as world champions Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik, and British champ Nigel Short.
Me against Garry Kasparov
We weren't allowed to date Russians for the first two years I was in Moscow, so social activity was limited. I traveled a bit with friends, the highlight being a trip to London to see Pink Floyd and Stone Temple Pilots in a couple of fantastic concerts. When they finally changed the rules and allowed us to date Russians, I was introduced to the amazing woman who became my wife. We're still perfect for each other fifteen years and two sons later.

In 1997 I went back to the states since we were about to have our first child. I got a job as an IT consultant for Compuware Corporation in Phoenix. It was a great company that treated me better than any other ever has, but I got bored with living in the US after the excitement of life overseas, so in 2001 I applied to go back to the Foreign Service. 2001 turned into a high point in my life, as I tied for first place in the US Amateur Chess Championships in Tucson with an undefeated score.

Zagreb, Croatia
After a year of training in Washington, we moved to Zagreb, Croatia. I can't speak much about my job online, so I'll just say that it is great to get a chance to travel around. The US is so large and far away from most other countries that it is nice to be in Europe where so many other great countries are nearby. In 2004 we moved to Beijing, China, which was an interesting and odd experience. Three years there was more than enough. While there I finally took up writing. I had always been good at writing in school, but I never thought I would actually get around to really writing a book.
At the Great Wall
In 2007 we got to move to a fascinating place -- Reykjavik, Iceland. I heartily recommend that everyone experience at least one New Year's celebration there, as they have the best fireworks display in the world. I finished my first book there, incorporating some of the flavor of where I was living, and we moved on to Baku, Azerbaijan in 2009.

I thought I would get to play chess again here in Baku, since three of the top 15 players in the world are from here, as well as this being the birthplace of Garry Kasparov, but I haven't been able to play at all here. The highlight so far was a vacation to London to see Green Day and Pearl Jam in concert. I've started my second book, but it is slow going as I keep procrastinating too much. The best news, though, is that we are heading for the gorgeous city of Budapest next summer for a three year tour. I already know the chess is great there, since I played in a tournament there in 2003, and the beauty of the city should be conducive to writing.

Have I bored you all enough? Did anyone actually get this far? Any questions?

20 comments:

  1. It definitely sounds like you've gained experiences most people can only dream of gaining. Getting out and seeing the world must've deeply impacted your writing. Living life is a good prerequisite to writing well, so I believe yours will be all the richer for it.

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  2. That's about as far from boring as it gets! That sounds like it would inspire some really rich world-building! I'm a little envious of all your experience.

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  3. Thanks for wading through all that, guys! I didn't quite get to do it the way I wanted, with nice photos and all, since I saw Elana's post and got excited to do this while still at work where I didn't have access to my picture library.

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  4. Awesome, dude. Seriously. Makes me wish I'd joined the diplomatic service. Or at least an international criminal cartel. Either one, really.

    I just want to travel more, is all. :)

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  5. What a great life story! And the next chapter will be in Budapest. *turning a bit green with envy* (except for the whole learning to speak Hungarian part). Thanks for sharing, Ted!

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  6. Fascinating! And I completely understand that when you have a license to kill you can't talk about it. No problemo.

    If I ever jaunt through Budapest we shall have to kick a ball around. :)

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  7. Oh, Bryan don't tease me. I would love to meet you (and secretly get to read your book before it gets published!). No license to do anything here; we are just warned off from going into too much detail about our work due to various issues that can arise.

    Simon, same thing as with Bryan; I hope we have a guest room in our house, and Budapest is one of the great places in the world to visit.

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  8. Aah, so much traveling around! I'm jealous. ^^ Will is right: this must give you great ideas for worldbuilding. :)

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  9. Wow! As someone else who travels for a living, I must say I'm envious that you still, not only enjoy it, but seem to love it. I can only imagine the rich collection of characters you've encountered and befriended throughout the years.

    And what a world your kids are getting to know!

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  10. No, not bored at all. What an interesting life you've had! Personally, I've never left the good ol' USA. Maybe someday I'll get to travel. It was nice to learn more about you.

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  11. I'm always interested in getting to know more about you Ted. Even though our lives and personalities might be different in many ways we love the same kind of writing and reading, so it's always cool to learn more.

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  12. I just have to add: talk about fate! What an awesome experience you must have had in Moscow. Enjoying all the culture, the excitement, AND meeting the love of your life? No wonder you based the people of the Known Lands off of Russians. Or wait, I mean Xax and his people. Sorry, forgot the background there for a second.

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  13. Hey Matt, thanks! I based the scientists mostly off of Russians because of the sci-fi story that really begins the whole arc. It is set in 23rd century Moscow. Yeah, Moscow influenced me a lot and my wife, too. I put in an Icelandic scientist not just because I lived there, but also because they have some great genetic scientists there (due to the very closed gene pool that make the people a very interesting group to study). I also put in a Bonsian scientist, partly because I lived in that part of the world (Croatia) but also because a friend of mine in Iceland was Bosnian. I needed a means of making the group of scientists more broadly European, due to the names I wanted to use.

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  14. So trips to England must always include a major concert, huh?
    Amazing where life takes us sometimes, isn't it?

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  15. Wow, you've had a fascinating life so far. Lots of fodder for your writing endeavors.

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  16. So interesting that your chess interest inspired the language that led to everything else! That's NUTS! I also didn't realize your wife was Russian--very cool. So when are you headed to Budapest? That is next stop, yes? Do your kids have dual citizenship, then? Does sound like an exciting life!

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  17. I'm envious of all you've done and seen. I haven't traveled as much as I'd like. Hope to see some pics of Budapest, esp. some architectural ones :)

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  18. What fun getting to know you better, Ted. Not boring at all! In fact, you've lived a pretty exciting life so far and this is just the start. ;)

    Cyndi

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  19. You all make me feel much better! I get exhausted from never getting to live in the states.

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  20. Where in the world is Baku, Azerbaijan? Hmm, what an awesome life you've lead. You'd get bored all over again living in the states :) With so much travel and experiencing many different cultures its bound to influence your writing, and world building. What a strength for you.

    Do you speak Chineese or Mandarin too?

    Thanks for sharing these tid-bits. They were exciting.

    ......dhole

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