Past lives

Granted, not the most flattering photo of myself but after
three months in the Scottish weather, I'm happy not to have gills.

I didn't start out to be a writer. I messed around with stories in school, teased my friends with snippets of humor bits like I was trying out new material for open mic night at Fat City teen nightclub in Medford, Oregon and then got all serious about college. Broadcasting and eventually archaeology and history won out over any fleeting thoughts of novels and I was lost to rolling around in the soil and meeting fascinating people who thought like I did -- 1,000 years in the past. Fast forward twenty-three years and I'm out of the dirt writing full-time about zombies and ghosts, apparently I can't get away from the dead things.  ;)

What did you do before writing or were you always in the groove? If not a writer, what did the 20-year-old you set out to do?