Hi, I'm T.J.

Like you didn't already know that, right?

OK, smarty, so let me dish up some surprises. Maybe.

I was a weird kid. I wore a sailor's hat to high school. High school.  (Let that sink in for a minute.) No, my parents didn't make me. And it wasn't the school's uniform. Just say I marched to the beat of a different drummer.

Speaking of which, I played percussion. Not really well, but that's not the point. I'm better on flute and guitar, and I dabble a bit on piano.

I have a poodle with a cool 'do. His name's Murphy, and he looks something like this:

I used to have horses. I love horses! But now I'm allergic to them. Cruel, cruel world.

I drew the seahorse (get it? seahorse! ) on my website. In fact, I drew all these pictures. Yes, I'm a writer, not an illustrator. That's not the point. It's fun to draw. Try it.

If you see a photo on this site, I probably took that, too.

I'm an explorer. I've traveled to amazing places - Russia, Europe, Asia - to do research, work or teach. I love to learn about new places and cultures, and I get excited by scientific discoveries and geeky inventions.

I have the best job in the world. I write about cool things for curious and creative kids - which means all of you (young and old). What kind of cool things? Pretty much anything. Gadgets, science, animals, mythology, cultures, music. Sometimes I make things up. Really. I write both nonfiction and fiction. I just have to remember what goes in which book.

I wasn't always an author of kids' books. I used to be a journalist, a university professor, a foreign affairs officer, and a research analyst. Yeah, I've been busy.

And, yes, I find much inspiration in The Phantom Tollbooth. If you haven't read it yet, you must!

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The most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between.

Norton Juster
The Phantom Tollbooth