MyMerryChristmas.com
My Merry Christmas is the most active, longest-running online project of my life. This comprehensive portal of all things Christmas has engaged millions of Christmas enthusiasts around the world since the 1990s. It was never my intention to create such a monster but it has added continually to my life as it has allowed me to connect with people all over the world and given me a very creative outlet in which to pour my talents. The site hosts thousands of Christmas features including the world’s largest Christmas community known as the Merry Forums. It provides news of the season, all unique original content that dispells much of the misinformation about Christmas history out there on the Internet and provides year-round daily entertainment related to Christmas that is produced by writers, vloggers, artists, musicians and developers from all over the world.

Merry PodcasatIn support of MyMerryChristmas.com and the other Christmas venues we operate I have been podcasting since 1991. What was once a nervous effort has blossomed into a great personal joy. With more than 100 merry episodes under my belt I research, write, host and engineer two different podcasts year round. MerryPodcast.com hosts what we call the Merry Little Podcast, a 10-20 minute audio treat that generally focuses on one particular Christmas-related topic.  For the premiere members of the Merry Forums of My Merry Christmas we produce an hour-long podcast that explores broad themes of Christmas topics. Both podcasts are popular and enjoy year round listenership. The podcasts provide me with another way to connect with the Christmas community online and nothing draws emails like the Merry Podcasts we generate.

SantaUpdateSanta Update is the only Santa Tracker online you have never heard about. It is also the oldest such effort on the Internet, having served Santa fans since 1991. It is non-profit, commercial-free, and year round. Its popularity has only grown by word of mouth and it has spurred a whole host of related sites that provide family-friendly and kid-safe venues online. This began as a personal effort for my children and now serves to inspire my grandchildren. The site follows the news of Santa, the elves and the North Pole from the North Pole. It is the work of elves. They work all year long to provide “Santa” updates, developing storylines related to the Christmas effort and engaging young readers in elf life and culture. The total effort culminates with a live 50-hour radio broadcast that tracks Santa around with world. The program features commercial-free Christmas music interrupted only with breaking news of Santa’s journey around the world. A cast of 70+ elf characters are featured as news broadcasters, Santa trackers and elves-at-large to tell the story of Santa each year. I write all of this.

Westover Family History This site is a personal effort started in 2013 to archive and share the stories of our family history. When I started working on our genealogy in 2012 I was stunned at the richness of the stories I found dating back more than 500 years to our ancestors in England. I continue to find and share new stories and information. This has led me to take on project work related to the family history of others and, frankly, if I’m being honest this would be a work I would be thrilled to fill all my time with for the rest of my life. Nothing has been more interesting and rewarding for me than to tell the extraordinary stories of ordinary and unknown people.