I’m David Byrne.

I’m David A. Byrne.

Forgot the “A” the first time. The “A” is important, because some guy with the name David Byrne had to be in a band called the Talking Heads and make the name somewhat famous before I was born. The nerve. Ok, so I do actually like the Talking Heads, but come on!

Writing is my passion. It keeps me up at night. I get incredibly cranky if I haven’t created something in a while, and not the kind of cranky that can be stimulated with a snickers bar.

It’s dogged me since I was in elementary school. Over the two decades since the creation of the comic book Super Simon & Ralphie by a young fourth grader with a broken leg in snowy Pennsylvania, words have poured out of me onto notepads and electronic devices. Many of the stories still pace around my hard drive, raising a hand and screaming “Pick me, pick me!” every time a new session begins.

While life and work always seem to distract and sidetrack us, dragging us away from the passions we so long to make our life’s work, the callings that never dim or fade away, we keep plugging away in solitude thinking maybe one day lightning will strike and everything will just fall into place. Nah, doesn’t work like that.

So I wrote and wrote and wrote, screenplays, prose, comics, song lyrics, whatever came to mind. Even copy for real estate listings; really, really terrific copy…really it was great. Maybe not so much. Every few years I’d have a push and try to do something with something I had written, but something would get in the way, usually me.

Shady Place was my breakthrough. The one I decided I would write and unleash on the world, almost sounds menacing…

The rest of stuff you need to know about me: Born in Germany. Mostly raised in Florida, I’m still there now. I’ve had 8 cats in my life, but never more than 2 at a time, the current one’s have stripes and are terrorists. Sold real estate for more than a decade. Worked in validation for pharmaceutical companies (bonus points if you know what validation is). Spent way too much time on comic books, collectibles, and fantasy sports. I make movies with my guys at 386films. And love my family and friends.