I started this blog so others may know both the power and the frailty of the human condition in a world so often beyond our control. I want readers to understand that whether we live in democracies or dictatorships, in prosperity or poverty, we own ourselves; that even if we come from dysfunctional families and broken homes or are afflicted with incurable illnesses, we have the power to do more than simply survive.

Whether we live in democracies or dictatorships, in prosperity or poverty, we own ourselves. Even if we come from dysfunctional families and broken homes or are afflicted with incurable illnesses, we have the power to do more than simply survive.

My name is Tobin. By training, I am a journalist and a scholar. By trade, I am a proposal manager. By thought, by deed, and by circumstances that have often felt out of my control, I am a writer. I have penned everything from obituaries to opinion pieces to stories uncovering school funding scandals to signs selling wine to project management plans for business proposals. My influences range from Aristophanes to Zamyatin—up to and including the nutrition facts on a box of cereal.

As a novelist, I write about twenty-first-century life in the American West. My stories weave together my observations and experiences in the cities and wildernesses I know best to tell readers the truth about what it means to be human.

My nonfiction projects look at the power and origins of ideas. I want to know what people believe and why they believe it. I want to show others that ideas matter.