I'm a Christian, father, husband and writer, pretty much in that order. Born a poor white child in 1964. (Kidding. We weren't "poor." We certainly weren't rich either. But still.) My father is a retired auto mechanic and my mother brought up me and my sister, Teresa, full time. It was a full time job.
I've never missed a meal (although I could stand to miss a few dozen now.) I grew up in a normal, nuclear, full-on Iowa family. I'm a fifth-generation Iowan and native of tony Lake Park, Iowa, on the banks of scenic Silver Lake. Population 1,000 when you loop in the pets. There were 29 in my graduating class at Harris Lake-Park Community School and at least half were farm kids.
My uncle farmed, so I've walked beans, fed hogs and bailed hay (which is the only farm chore I truly hated, FYI. If you have a choice between hell and a hay barn in Iowa in August, choose hell. It will be cooler.). I also experienced an assembly line chicken slaughter thanks to my aunt and uncle. It's an experience that stays with a guy.
Proud graduate of Morningside College in tony Sioux City, IA, once packing plant capital of the world and now a pretty nice little city of 100,000-ish. BA and Mass Comm. 4.0, baby!
I've been married to the same woman (Rhonda) since 1985 (she's a strong woman) and we live with our two teenage girls (Haley and Jena), a case of antacid, a loaded shotgun, a dog named Chester and a guinea pig named Patches in West Des Moines, Iowa.
I'm a freelance writer (and also the CEO, CFO, CMO, COO of Relief Writer). Hobbies include being a freakish fan of American open-wheel racing including Champ Car, Indy Car. To that end I operate pressdog.com, a site devoted to racing humor (seriously).
Life goals are pretty easy: Follow Jesus without putting up such a big fight about it, be a worthy father, loving husband and get paid to write stuff that makes people's faces sweat. If they can say all that about me at my funeral, my work here will be done. When I read really great writing, I usually end up just looking away, because I feel unworthy to even look upon it.
I'm the master of four domain names and have five email addresses (at the moment). Love the online life. Love the way it empowers people to Stick it to the Man! Drop me a line at my a-main email address: billzahren@yahoo.com.
Now go kick some booty today!
