| The Only Alternative Fanzine | The Commonwealth Times | VCU Voice |

| The Richmond Times-Dispatch | The Washington Post | The New York Times |

| The Capitol Forum | Circuit Magazine | Caffeine Magazine |

| The Planet | WIRED Magazine | Rand McNally Publishing |

The Only Alternative Fanzine (1985 to 1986): Three issues of this offset printed, hand-stapled, punk rock zine -- hammered together on an old, manual Royal typewriter in my bedroom -- were circulated in the hallways of Monacan High School, on the rack at Plan 9 Records and nationally through the USPS. TOA was my local answer to Thrasher and Maximum Rock 'n' Roll magazines, and my first collective publishing experience with reviews of shows and albums submitted, often under duress, by friends. Before there was an Internet, there were scissors, glue and typewriters. Coming Soon...

The Commonwealth Times (1989 to 1991): It took one journalism class to convince me that writing was all about doing, so I bagged the journalism degree and started writing for the student newspaper at Virginia Commonwealth University. In one of those elections that was more about the other guy, the paper's staff elected me managing editor (and then they all graduated, leaving me holding the bag). Which is when the learning really started. The CT was published weekly during the academic year. Favorite article: Covering a Jell-o/Cheerios/hot dog wrestling match between Dave Brockie and Dirt Woman. I think Ed Trask dressed in diapers and angel wings as he moderated the fiasco. Coming Soon...

VCU Voice (1990 to 1993): Like all good endeavors, my stint with VCU's University Relations office started with a crush, a desire to make money and access to office supplies. I started compiling calendar information and news briefs, and somehow managed to land a full-time editorial job after graduating. The VCU Voice was the bi-weekly newspaper for VCU's faculty and staff. For about a year, I was engaged in the ultimate conflict-of-interest (from a journalistic perspective) -- writing for the university in a PR job; writing about the university as an often-adversarial student editor; and leveraging my university contacts to generate stories for local and national papers. Not to mention, hiring friends to work for me.Coming Soon...

The Capitol Forum (1991): My friend Jim Johns snagged a publishing junket that leveraged his political science and journaloism experience; I joined him briefly in the back office of a local home health care business to churn out a newspaper focused on Virginia politics -- with a heady emphasis on General Assembly business. Well, you can imagine the excitement. People beat down the doors to get the latest issue! We had late-night meetings in darkened parking decks! Coming Soon...

Circuit Magazine (1992): My first attempt at bedroom journalism. (Actually, I think the editorial meetings were held in Richard and Catherine's living room.) A monthly tabloid. The psychic precurser to Caffeine Magazine. Most interesting moment: Interviewing Eric E. Stanley about Richmond radio during a brief shining moment that was known as Came... oh, wait. Wrong metaphor. Anyway, we lasted three issues. When my dad died, I found copies in his desk; that made me happy. Coming Soon...

Caffeine Magazine (1993 to 1994; 1998): Caffeine was, for me, proof that a small pool of talented people and the ability to dodge rent payments was about all you need to produce a top-notch magazine. A free monthly distributed at stores and restaurants in Richmond, Caffeine struck a chord with the city's creative community. Between pissing off local Libertarians and City Council members, and fending off the cynically disadvantaged, our small staff of writers, photographers and illustrators struggled to stir up a revolt. Just don't ever ask me to organize a rock-and-roll bowl-a-thon ever again.

The Planet (1995 to 1996): Inspired by the failure of Caffeine, a local travel agency asked me to produce a monthly magazine. At least this time I didn't have to worry about the bills. Coming Soon...