Born in Dunkirk, NY, in the mid-60's, I grew up in a small town environment - lots of family, lots of friends, and good memories. After high school graduation (the DHS Class of 1983 is the best!), I moved up to Rochester, NY to attend college at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Four and half years later, with my Bachelors of Science degree in computers, I moved south to North Carolina and began working as a programmer. While there, I spent two years as a member of the Raleigh Jaycees. Also, during this period, I met and fell in love with the woman who would become my wife in 1990 - Terri. We've been happily married since. Our one and only son was born five years later.
2005 was all about changes! I turned 40, found out I had a previously undetected heart condition, was laid off unexpectedly from my employer of 17 1/2 years, began searching for a new job, had heart surgery, and, while recovering, landed a perfect fit job with a great company all - in a six month period! Our family uprooted and moved across the state to Hickory, NC, that Fall and have settled in a home that fits us wonderfully.
For over a decade (1989 to 2000) I was an active member of the Clobberin' Times, an APA (amateur press association) devoted to a super-hero roleplaying game known as Champions (put out by Hero Games). Through the APA I met some of my closest friends in the world, including the creators of the Nice Guy comic - Mike and Tim.
One of the spin off projects of the APA was an interactive fictional universe by the various APA members called the Omniverse. I was responsible for the Victoria City portion of that world and did a number of fictional tales of a heroine I called Lodestone.
The members of the old paper APA have brought it full circle with
the Clobberin' Times: Online. I have my own sub-site with the
World of Maenza: Online, my gaming enviroment with all new, online content!
For three years (2000 to 2003) I was part of an online DC Comics Fanfiction project called
the Five Earths Project that operated out of a number of Yahoo Groups. I did over 130 stories during that time.
Click here for quick access to my tales for the groups.
Overpower was a collectible card game by Fleer that was popular in the 1990's. Click here for my DC OverPower homemade set listings! I did images for all those cards as well - they're burned on a CD somewhere in all my stuff.
Wacky Packages were product parody stickers originally produced by Topps in the 1970's and early 1980's. I loved them as a kid and enjoy them today with the new releases by Topps card company starting in 2004
. Click here for my homemade parody images and more (I have done hundreds of them since late 1999)!