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Thankfully, there was a
college near where Kerry lived that did have
classes in things like literature, astronomy and
computer science. Consequently, college was a better experience than
high school. Tougher, but better. Aside from working one—and
sometimes two—part-time jobs, Kerry applied himself
to his studies. (Perhaps because he was paying for
them?) He graduated with honors, earning a
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a minor
in Science.
Only two days after graduation, Kerry started work
for a small software company called Fox Software. It
was the late eighties, an unparalleled time in the
computer industry. An exciting time, a crazy time.
Fox produced a niche database product called FoxBASE+—a work-alike
"clone" of another highly
popular database named dBase.
A few months after Kerry started, Fox was
sued by Ashton Tate (dBase's owner) for
infringement of their copyrights. The lawsuit was
groundbreaking, not only because it alleged
infringement of dBase's "look and feel" but also the
development
language inherent to the product. (The first time
anyone had claimed ownership of a language.)
What happened next was a roller-coaster ride,
partially because of the hurdles Fox was trying to
jump—shipping
products while combating litigation—but
also because of the diverse personalities involved.
At the end of nearly four years, the lawsuit was
resolved in Fox's favor. It, along with Fox's
product FoxPro, brought the company much attention.
Ultimately, Fox was sold to Microsoft.
And, in some respects, so was Kerry...
Kerry moved two thousand miles from Ohio to
Washington State, alone, aside from
workmates and a dog named Cassi.
For the next seven years he coded away at Microsoft.
Much of it was productive time—a good
time. The first four years he
worked on FoxPro (bringing his tenure on that
product to eight) and grew in both responsibility
and knowledge. Unfortunately, he grew exceedingly restless with
computer programming. Longed for a new
direction...
Thinking a different product might help (and amidst
rumors that FoxPro was soon to be canceled) Kerry
changed groups at Microsoft. All that did was make
Kerry the newbie in another group, and frankly, it
wasn't much fun. So, Kerry tried another group at
Microsoft. That was more fun, but still something
was missing...
In the late nineties while on a plane trip from Ohio
to Washington, Kerry happened to sit beside an
elderly (and proudly published) author. When Kerry
mentioned that he always wanted to write, the man
said "Well, start early. You might get published
before you die."
Those words stuck, and barely a year later Kerry
left Microsoft to start a career in writing. It took
four years, but in 2003, Kerry's memoir of his life
at Fox Software—FoxTales—was
published.
FoxTales
was readily embraced by the active community of FoxPro
users. It received many positive reviews on Amazon,
via private emails sent to the author, and on
reader's personal blogs and forums.
Meanwhile, Kerry continued to write, query
publishers and send manuscripts for review. He
got lots of rejections—common for even the best of
writers, as the number of novels published every
year is roughly one forth that of non-fiction books
like FoxTales. Then in 2008, Kerry sent the right
book to the right place...
Kerry's first novel was published in 2009—a speculative
story destined to break new ground in our perception
of the future. Entitled A Star
Curiously Singing it was the first of
the DarkTrench series. The second,
The Superlative Stream,
was published in April of 2010. Check them out!
Kerry again resides in Ohio with his wife and three
children.
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