I am an amateur genealogist, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and grew up in Watertown, Massachusetts. For thirty years I was a software engineer for both the public and private sectors. During that time I acquired the hobby of researching my family's ancestry, which formed the basis for the genre from which I currently develop my books: "Ancestry * Biography * History". I explore my ancestry, searching for interesting forebears, researching them in depth, and then writing their biographies within the context of the history of their day. My first book, "The Colonel and the Vicar", is a unique true story set amidst the backdrop of the American Civil War. It combines my genealogical research about two ancestors, one a colonel in the famed Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and the other, an Anglican priest who became arguably the pre-eminent collaborator with the Confederacy by facilitating the process of acquiring warships from the United Kingdom. The main characters, Colonel Henry Martyn Tremlett and the Rev. Dr. Francis William Tremlett, were first cousins to one another. My research also revealed the role of European nations during the American Civil War, particularly Great Britain, and its considerable influence on the war, the latter being a part of history largely underserved in most history books and other media. The story entertains by combining espionage, political intrigue, stirring sea sagas, and the crucible of battle.