{"id":2282,"date":"2013-09-16T08:38:01","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T13:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2022-08-09T11:00:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-09T16:00:05","slug":"welcome-to-my-hiking-hq","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/","title":{"rendered":"I help technology companies tell their stories. This site tells my story."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was into stories as far back as I can remember \u2014 books, movies, TV shows, newspapers, magazines, anything with a narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It took a few decades, but I ended up where I belong. As a self-employed commercial writer, I’m telling stories every day. My clients are global technology companies doing things like artificial intelligence and zero-trust cyber security. My narratives fill ebooks, whitepapers, sponsored content, blog posts and case studies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife and I dwell in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. While we’ve lived in two Bay Areas (Tampa and San Francisco), we share rust-belt roots. We watch a lot of movies and enjoy epic road trips in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I go on many hikes because it’s the most natural way to exercise. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

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Your host, circa 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

How it all started<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I was born early in the administration of John F. Kennedy. I grew up far from Camelot in a working-class household in the suburbs of Peoria, Illinois. Dad worked in a wire mill. Mom was a secretary. Stepmom was a surgical tech; stepdad was a jet mechanic. (We lived for awhile in a subdivision called Lake Camelot. Alas, I have no exalted myths to report). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My first real job was running a radial drill in a machine shop that supplied spare parts for bulldozers. It was dirty, hazardous duty for little pay and zero glory. But I can always look some Ivy League type in the eye and ask him if he’s ever worked for a living like I did. (Reverse snobbery is the best kind).    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got laid off from that gig and a couple years later I found myself studying journalism at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. They even made me editor of the campus paper one semester. From 1987 through 2009, I worked for newspapers in Carbondale, Tampa, Peoria and San Jose, California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, I’ve been a work-from-home soloist. I do business as Verb Nerd Industries. Stop by my business page<\/a> to find out more about working with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other handy links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n