Lance Kenman
Biography
Lance began life as a happy, wide eyed baby, or so his mother says, and that has
not changed, although he no longer sucks his thumb. Always one to keep a positive
attitude and roll with the punches, he has managed to survive through over 30 years
in his career as a mechanical engineer.
He was born and reared in southern California, and attended university in San Diego.
He worked in power plants and a refinery, and then for a consultant who moved him
to Albuquerque. That’s where he met his perfect mate and was “married” (in the eyes
of God). Two years later they moved to central Texas. That was twenty-six years
ago, and they’re living their “happily ever after” lives in a large historic home.
The eternally optimistic, obsessive compulsive, card carrying nerd, he remained
closeted through much of his professional life, due to the nature of the conservative
profession of engineering. Privately, in a dedicated, monogamous partnership with
a Metropolitan Community Church ordained minister, it was impossible to remain closeted,
especially after appearing on the six o’clock news, arm-in-arm with his husband
during a Gay Pride Parade. They were chanting “What do you want? GAY RIGHTS! When
do you want ‘em? NOW!” over the screaming torments of bible thumping Baptists.
Lance has always known that he was good at story telling, but hadn’t been motivated
to write until a “wake up call” and a trip to the hospital in 2003. He’s been pounding
away at the keys of his computer ever since.
“I have very selfish motives in writing,” he says. “First and foremost I enjoy it!
Writing is an escape that exponentially exceeds anything else I do, including reading.
When reading, you’re carried into someone else’s dream world. When writing, you’re
carried away to worlds that only you can imagine. There isn’t really a wrong way
to do it. The quality of your writing is only limited by your ability to express
in words what appears in your mind. It’s fantasy at its best!
“Beyond that, a writer is free to express ideas that fulfill an agenda. Mine is
quite simple and is expressed by something an unknown author shared in an email:
‘Live simply, love generously, care deeply and speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.’
Complicated formulas are best left to scientists; they have no place in daily life.”