I genuinely appreciate receiving feedback for my work as well as being introduced to the prose and comic work of others. Please feel free to send me an e-mail and I’ll be happy to respond to your letter. You can write me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

With the publication of my books, I’ve been able to more easily share my thoughts and insights on a handful subjects that are both culturally relevant and personally close to me. If your department, library, local comic shop, gaming store, museum, or organization is interested in having me for a speaking engagement or author visit, please contact me for details. I will get back to you with my availability along with technology needs.

Presentations last between 45 and 60 minutes in length. After the presentation concludes, I am happy to offer a question and answer session along with a book signing.

Currently, I offer the following presentations:

My Work

Curses! Foiled Again! – The Evil Genius of Positive Disintegration

What makes us who we are? What motivates us both positively and negatively? Nature or nurture? It's an age old debate; one that psychologists and researchers are still pondering to this day. These very questions are what caused me to write Positive Disintegration, my novel about a teenage genius who decides that his best option in life is to become a supervillain. To help figure out these big questions, we'll explore brain-based research, amazing studies, and discover how and why teenagers constantly reinvent themselves. Join me in this lively presentation as we attempt to decode the mysteries of the teenage brain together.

Rewriting History – A Tall Tale about Folks

Gather 'round the campfire and sit a spell. Storytime's near and have I got a doozy for y'all. Let's take a look at America's past and how the fabric of our country and consciousness was shaped by folktales. Understanding these modern myths are what caused me to write Folks, my series about Paul Bunyan and John Henry's shared adventures across the fruited plain of "America the Beautiful." We'll learn about folk lore, American mythology, and the creative process that goes into writing historical fiction.

Education, English and Language Arts

Comic Books and Graphic Novels in Your School Media Center and Library

Whenever we select our books for personal reading in my classroom, it's always a race to see who will get to the copies of Spider-man or Maus first. This presentation covers essential comics, trade paperbacks, and collected editions of graphic novels that are recommended for media centers and libraries in the K-12 setting. With my 20+ years of comic book experience at hand, I'll help explain curricular and thematic connections in this highly engaging book talk. If your students are lovers of books, they'll love comics, too!

Game On! – Using Board Games Effectively in the Classroom

What if you could easily engage your students and likewise cover rigorous curriculum at the same time? Well, do not pass "Go" and do not collect $200. Instead, try some great and inexpensive board games in your content area - whether you teach Health, Science and Technology, Social Studies, or Theater. Board games offer a rich, cooperative, and collaborative experience for students in the K-12 setting. With my 20+ years of gaming experience at hand, I'll help explain curricular and thematic connections in this interactive demonstration of easy-to-implement board games. We'll cover the many rationales for gaming, its history and resurgence in America and Europe, and cover games for you to use in class.

Teaching Current Events in the English and Language Arts Classroom

Teaching 21st century learners is a challenge in and of itself. As educators, we need to stay as up-to-date on technology and curricular concerns as we can. Taking one of the old "tried and true" classroom exercises, current events, I've remixed this activity into a highly engaging series of debates for the English and Language Arts classroom. In these activities, students will be able to follow professional debate models while quickly and effectively researching hot button issues in literature, reading, and writing from Facebook to eBooks.

Comic Books and Graphic Novels

Crime Wave – The Hardboiled History of Crime Comics

From their pulpy beginnings to their dark entry into our collective consciousness, crime comics have been some of the most popular and controversial publications in the last century. Go undercover as we explore the roots of crime fiction and its seduction of the innocent American populace from the 1930s to the realistic crime fiction of today. It's a celebration of whodunnits, police procedurals, heists, suspense and thrills in this gritty caper. Be sure to check it out. It would be criminal if you didn't.

Doomed! – The Anatomy of a Supervillain

French poet Charles Baudelaire wrote, "Evil is done without effort, naturally, it is the working of fate; good is always the product of an art." I’ll unlock the doors of the asylum to explore one of the most creative inventions in literature and the arts, the supervillain. Using the literary theory of binary opposition as our anchor, we’ll stare into the abyss and try to determine if Batman created the Joker of if it is the other way around. With psychological profiles in-tow, the rogues galleries of comicdom’s heroes will be laid bare in this harrowing presentation.