Richard Shoptaw

Richard Shoptaw is originally from Niles, Michigan. The oldest child of a furniture draftsman and a housewife, his parents had high hopes Richard would succeed in the world. Surely with his ability to absorb useless trivia and a distinct inability to keep his opinions to himself, they saw no limit for him. They were sure they reared perhaps a future doctor, professor, or lawyer. Instead, he graduated from Brandywine High School in 1999 and took up the time-honored profession of being a retail clerk.

This incredible and exciting career choice propelled him to be a misanthropic and sarcastic jerk, not to mention an insular nerd of absurd proportions. After trying his hand in the IT field, he also learned that he possesses a volatile distaste for authority figures. All of this fodder, including the untimely death of his father when he was fourteen, has given Richard a treasure trove of issues from which to pull from and he started writing. A year after graduation, Richard met a woman named Natalie who not only found him tolerable; she even agreed to marry him. A decision she still hasn’t learned to regret after eighteen years. When he isn’t writing, he plays video games, watches Star Wars repeatedly, reads, and writes. Sadly, he is programmed for little else. He is also adapting to using Twitter and other social media. Follow him @Richard_Shoptaw. He apologizes now.

PS: His mother still has hopes for his younger brother, Andrew.