The plate is kind of like a wedding ring, it doesn’t change anything, but the public commitment feels good.

I’ll turn 50 later this year (Yikes!) and it’s given me pause to look back. What a wild ride. Soviet Counterintelligence in the Special Forces. Foreign Exchange Trader for a pharmaceutical giant. Managing Director at a couple of medical device giants. CEO at couple of Silicon Valley startups.

Now I’m a novelist.

Where did that come from? I majored in philosophy and math. I got an MBA in finance. I spent 20 years managing medical technologies – people, marketing, sales. The answer: passion and sweat. Enough passion to spend six years living off savings while I taught myself the craft. Enough sweat to soak stacks of bed sheets (although amazingly my wife remained wrinkle free.) But now my writing is being read at the rate of two pages per second, and I feel like I know what I’m doing. No less importantly, I’m loving it.

I covered a lot of ground before I put a ring on Elena’s finger, but I’ll be with her for life. Likewise, though the car will change (gotta go electric) the plate’s gonna stay the same – for the next 49 years at least.

Thank you for reading,