So Who is Tim Toterhi (Toe-Ter-Rye) Anyway?

I’m one of those annoying morning people – up at 5, at the gym shortly thereafter, at work by 7 or so. I follow a similar pattern on weekends. When you focus on writing from 6am till noon most weekends you can get a lot accomplished and still have a life. Plus, my wife is super cool and keeps me balanced so I don’t overdo things.

My 6th grade English teacher read us Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. It blew my mind. I wanted to be that bird so badly that I later took flying lessons. However, I quickly realized that someone, who has more points on his driver’s license than he had on the SAT, should probably avoid hurling himself through the air in a winged Miata. You can only be bad at landing once.

When I saw the last scene of Stand By Me, the one where the story folds back on the narrator and you see him typing the words that just made you cry, I realized writing had to be part of this lifetime.

When I was a kid, my father gave me a couple of his Billy Joel records. It was my first “grown up” gift from him. I love his music and weave at least one mention of him into every book as a nod to my old man.

All lies and false propaganda. 3:47 Ha! It’s just a highly ridiculous time of the morning is all.

After trying on my comedic alter ego, Jackson Holiday and writing my second career book, I’ll likely return to proper fiction. Of course, I could pen a 12-part mini-series entitled, Doing Shots: The Untold Story of Lithuanian’s Olympic Shot-Put Trials.

It drives me crazy when people say, “everything happens for a reason.” That seems so defeatist. More accurate to me is that people assign reasons to all that happens. I can’t blame them though—the first is a great deal more comforting.

1. I listen to music (usually one album over and over) BEFORE I write. When writing, I can’t read or listen to anything else. Hence my tendency to seem a bit of an airhead now and then.
2. I hate whistling. Whistling is the musical equivalent of wearing a toupee. Your song choice, your delivery, your stage presence… it all sucks. Just stop it.
3. I nearly accepted a position as a Secret Service agent. Bad eyesight and bad jokes closed that door. Still, the two-year interview process was incredible. Those guys and gals are amazing.