Hello, my name is Scott

...and I am one side of the triangle.

I was born in Mankato, MN. in 1965 and save for a period between 1985 - 1989 in which I lived in sunny St. Petersburg, FL, have lived in Minnesota my whole life. I grew up in two small towns, St. Peter & Le Sueur, Mn. St. Peter is where I spent my elementary years (K-6) and then our family built a house in rural Le Sueur where I spent the rest of my youth (attended half of 6th grade and then all my high school years there). I come from a restaurant family. My parents owned three Country Kitchen Restaurants and by age 11. I was sweeping parking lots and mowing the grass. When I got old enough to be legal, I moved inside to bus tables and by age 18 I was managing the store in Le Sueur. Anyone who has ever worked in that business knows that it consumes pretty much ALL of your life, but we did find time for other things. My dad was big into horses and at a very early age (8-9 maybe) I was learning to ride. My first horse was a black Shetland pony named Chester that my parents bought for $10.00! She stood about as high as a Great Dane and was the mangiest thing you ever saw. But with the guiding hand of my dad and a lot of hard work, she became a star and about age eleven I was competing in the WSCA (Western Saddle Club Association) Championship show at the Hippodrome at the MN State Fairgrounds. I placed 8th (awards went only to seventh) out of some fifty contestants and the only thing that kept from a prize was the size of her legs. People were amazed at how hard she tried and how much heart she had and after that, we were getting offers of hundreds of dollars for her…she was NOT for sale! Thus began my competitive showing career and the trophies and ribbons kept coming. As I grew, I grew into a bigger horse. In my house, hand-me-downs had a whole other meaning because as you outgrew one horse, you were given the next size bigger out of the stable. For the next five years, horses and restaurants were my life and both were very rewarding. And then, in the fall of 1980, I decided I wanted a motorcycle. My neighbor and best friend had one so I had to have one too. One day he asked if I wanted to give it a try and, being the reckless kid I was, I got on a 250cc dirt bike for the first time and took it up a steep hill. Needless to say, it was a bad idea, because I lost control and somehow the kickstand punched through my left calf and took everything out but the bone! To make a long story short, after several operations (and being told I may never walk again) and painful physical therapy I got back on my feet but my horse showing days were over. If you’ve ever ridden a horse you know that it takes muscle control in your legs to keep your balance and maneuver the horse, and thanks to the motorcycle, I simply lacked the muscle anymore. Sadly, to this day I still am unable to ride long, and my left leg will never be the same…and no, I don’t own a motorcycle!

In 1985, my mom and dad were divorced and my mom decided to move to Florida where her best friend lived. Having nothing keeping me in Le Sueur (and actually wanting badly to get out!), I went with her. We lived in St. Petersburg where I got a job at a Bennigans Restaurant on St. Pete Beach. I stuck it out for four years until one day I simply could not keep working in the restaurant business any longer! Phil was working for a portrait studio in the twin cities area and he told me to come back to MN and give that a try. Thus began my photography career. Having no formal training and only the love of taking pictures, I got a job at the Maplewood Mall Proex Studio. With the help of some good teachers and the will to learn, I soon excelled in the field and within a few years, was managing a studio at the Ridgehaven Mall in Minnetonka. As time passed, I began to yearn to break out on my own and have my own studio and sometime in the early 90’s I moved to St. Cloud, MN where Pete and I decided to start up our own business. Masterpiece Photography was born and while Pete did not stay with me (radio was in his blood and Phil and I talked him into getting back into the business), I kept the studio going until around 2005. The studio is now closed (thanks to the digital ruination of the photography business) and my last portrait gig was my son’s graduation portraits. But my love for photography still burns and I am back doing what I did when I first picked up a camera, nature and landscape photography

I am happily and blissfully married to Phil’s sister, Bobbi, for seven wonderful years now and together we live in “R” house in north-central Minnesota with our neurotic border collie/spits, Q (named after John DeLance‘s Star Trek NG character). Bobbi is more than my wife; she is my best friend, my inspiration and my muse. Though we have both traveled long and difficult roads (both of us having a failed previous marriage), our paths came together with the help of Phil, and we have found the meaning of true happiness.

Our family consists of four wonderful adult (my Alec is the youngest and since his is nearly 18 at the time of this posting, I will call him adult) children, two are Bobbi’s and two are mine, and together we have created a very close family unit. Bobbi’s kids are Alexander (Alec) and Nicholas (Nick) and both are grown and married now. Both have great careers working in the College setting, have wonderful and loving wives and, much to the chagrin of their mom, have no children of their own (again, at the time of this posting). My kids are Cassandra (Cassie) and Alexander (Alec)…that’s right, we have TWO Alecs! We used to call them Big Alec and Little Alec, but now that mine is nearly as tall as me, Little Alec no longer fits so we use Young Alec to keep them straight. Cassie is an LPN (taking after her step mom!) and currently works at a nursing home. She plans to move to Colorado in 2012 and though I will miss her dearly, it’s nice to know we have a place to visit should we travel that way. Alec is currently a high school senior and like his dad, has no idea what he’s going to do after graduation. All four of our kids are bright, talented and just plain fun to be around and Bobbi and I are very proud of them all!

Currently, I am a retired portrait photographer and a semi starving nature and landscape photographer. I work in the window manufacturing business to pay the bills and am hoping to get out of there! My wife and I enjoy camping, photography, being outdoors, going to Powwows, Renaissance festivals, watching movies, and just sitting on the couch watching TV. We do everything together and never tire of each others company. I love reading (I am ALWAYS reading a book) and my favorite authors are Stephen King, Joe Hill, JRR Tolkien, Dennis McKiernan, Michael Crichton (RIP), and almost anything in the Dragonlance world. Writing has always been a passion for me and I do it for the escape and the joy of telling a story. In 1983 I began my first novel and thanks to Patty Prince and 8th grade Creative Writing, have never stopped! The following are a list of my past and current projects, and while none have been published, I am ever hopeful.

The Sword Of Windor

A fantasy novel based on a Dungeons & Dragons character I created. Beginning in 1983, this was my first attempt to write a complete novel. What began on a typewriter in the kitchen of my apartment, it progressed through two word processing units (now dinosaurs), a Mac Classic, and finally finished many years later on a PC. This story grew so immense that it is my hope to have the character’s tale be fully told in a trilogy.

Tirem

This is a work in progress. It is ultimately intended to be the third novel of the one listed above, and is the story of that character’s son.

Forcefield

This is my first attempt to write outside the fantasy realm. A modern day tale of greed, power, and domination it is a dark tale of a young boy’s life and his “special talent” and shows just how far a person will go to attain that in which they seek. This is still a work in progress,

About Hobbits

One of many collaborations with Phil, it is a fantasy story about those fury-footed fellows created by JRR Tolkien. Not one for adventure, it tells the tale of a village of Hobbits who are thrust into a most dreadful adventure, forced to fight for their very survival. This project is still in the developmental stages and has yet to be put fully on paper

Travels

This collaboration with Phil deals with the characters from “The Sword Of Windor” and Phil’s baby, “Boramlo.” It tells of some of their many travels together as well as the beginning of their friendship. This is a working project, and while being done so from separate locations, is coming along nicely.

Swordplay

A short story. A modern day fiction that melds with fantasy. It is a story about a wife’s gift to her husband that turns his reality inside out. Written in the 90’s, it was accepted for publication by a subsidiary publishing company in 1994 but I had to decline after the announcement of  the upcoming arrival of my son, Alec. As a way to always remember that, his middle name is Stefen, the pen name I created in Ms. Prince’s Creating Writing class all those years ago.

The Long Winter

Another short story. A fantasy tale about a most least likely hero thrust into a classic struggle of Good vs. Evil.

Sorcerer for Hire

This is my current solo project. Another fantasy tale, it is my plan to make it a novella, but the way I tend to ramble, who knows?

I also have countless poems, muses, songs and whatnots. While I do hope to see my work in the hands of many readers, I will forever write for the pure love and escape of it all. Though none of my larger works have been published, some of my poetry has. These accolades include:
 *1998 National Library of Poetry Collection entitled “Glistening Stars.”  One of my poems was included and given and honorable mention.
*2003 National Library of Poetry Collection entitled “The Colors of Life.”  my poem, Sanctuary, received the Editor’s Choice Award as well as the headlined poem.
*2004 National Library of Poetry selection for “Best Poets.”  A collection of poems chosen by the ILP editors from poet winners of years past, my poem “This World” was included.

My first love will always be nature photography of which I have complied thousands of images.  The rule in my house is: “If I didn’t shoot it, I don’t hang it.”