He spent his childhood in central New Jersey, in the Princeton area, and attended schools in Wisconsin, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York, where he met his wife, Sarah.

Over the years, he has worked as a salesclerk, an accounting assistant, a library assistant, a copyeditor, an intern at a major literary magazine, a writing tutor, and an instructor at community, state, and private colleges. He occasionally makes money writing fiction.

Currently, he lives in Warrensburg, Missouri with his wife and two children, with whom he spends every available moment.

He teaches at the University of Central Missouri, where he is also an editor for Pleiades.