Family: My wife Kelly, my stepson Peter, my stepson Gregory, my son Nathaniel, my daughter Amelia, and my youngest daughter Julia.

How did you meet your wife? We met through Match.com. We met and had a match, and one thing led to another, and here we are.

Pets: We have ten chickens, two rabbits, and a mini goldendoodle.

How long have you lived in Newtown? Four years.

Work: I work at The French-American School of New York in Mamaroneck. I am the fourth and fifth grade English and math teacher.

Do you have a favorite podcast? The one from Aaron Mahnke — the grim & mild present Havoc Town — as well as Supernatural Then & Now. I was a huge Supernatural fan, so it’s been fun to have the actors go through that.

What is the most recent book you’ve read? Right now I’m reading the most recent release from Matt Haig, the second in his Midnight Library series. I’m also reading all the textbooks I need to read for my doctorate because I’ll graduate in June with my doctorate in education from Fairfield. Also anything from James Rawlings, Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child — I am a voracious reader. It’s like asking your favorite movie.

Do you have a favorite author? Contemporary authors, it would probably be a tie between Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and James Rollins. It would really be hard to pick among them. Second favorite would be Matt Reilly. For older authors it would be Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe. I love teaching Poe to my kids because they’ve never really understood the Father of Gothic Horror, and they don’t understand that it’s Halloween time, and they love Wednesday, but they don’t get that Wednesday wouldn’t exist without Edgar Allen Poe. It’s fun to teach them about that, to expose them to that kind of literary history.

Who would you like to be stuck in an elevator with? From the dead, I’d have to pick Mark Twain, because I’ve read that he was such a character, and after that Ernest Hemingway. From a writer’s perspective there’s nobody else besides those two I admire more. If it was someone still alive, it’s a long list. I can’t pick.

What is the greatest piece of advice you have ever been given? My high school theology teacher once said to us: “Make the most of what you’re given, not what you want.” You have to deal with what you have. I never let a gained opportunity become a past regret.

Favorite food? Chicken cutlets.

What is something you cannot live without? My kids.

What is your proudest accomplishment? Besides my kids — they’re the best part of me — getting to finally finish my book. It took me about 20 years to really finish. I started it when I was in college, scribbling into a notebook one day in the middle of French history class, and it was one idea, but it was three separate stories and it wasn’t until three or four years ago that I realized I was really writing one story in three separate pieces. It took a long time for me to put those disparate pieces together and really sit down and finish the concept I had been working on. Finishing that was a real labor of love, and putting it together to make a historical mystery action-adventure piece is a lot. I would call it comparable to writing my dissertation, but it was well worth it.

What is your favorite thing about Newtown? The fact that while we are geographically spread out, we are small in the sense that everyone knows everyone else and everyone is so supportive. My wife had a flat tire a few months ago. She was stuck in the Walgreens parking lot and a very elderly man — he could barely walk himself — asked if he could help her change the tire. I was down at work; I couldn’t get to her, and she was like “I’ve got it” — she’s very capable — but the fact he was so willing to help, that he stepped in and was willing to do that, is something I think is unique to our town.

Do you have a personal credo? Those who have the ability to act have a responsibility to act. It is something I often try to impress upon my students: If you are able to do more, don’t settle for doing less.