Boyle, Dan 1959-

PERSONAL: Born October 18, 1959, in Tacoma, WA; son of Raymond (a certified public accountant) and Marilyn (a realtor) Boyle. Ethnicity:“Irish.”Education: Western Washington University, B.A., 1982. Politics: Democrat. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home— Burbank, CA. Office— Providence Health System, 501 S. Buena Vista St., Burbank, CA 91505. E-mail— sheltiesx3@charter.net.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS

Huddle (novel), Haworth Press (New York, NY), 2003.

Housecleaning (novel), Haworth Press (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS: Dan Boyle told CA:“I love novels of ideas, and my second novel stemmed from my interest in scientists who search for God by searching the universe. Housecleaning is about a Cal Tech physicist trying to understand the meaning of life through a unified theory of the universe known as string theory. He takes a sabbatical to Washington State to care for his mother, who is dying of a strange form of dementia, in which she falls back in time all the way back to the Big Bang.

“I’ve been writing since I was a little kid, writing from my top bunk bed. My first attempt was a story called ‘Fourteen Dogs on a Vacation.’ I was first influenced by the power of the novel as a freshman in college when I began reading French, German, and Russian novelists, especially Tolstoy, Lermontov, and Dostoevsky. [Now] I get up early in the morning, have a double shot of espresso, and start writing. I find it’s best for me to work without an outline at first. An outline becomes cumbersome for me and does not allow my characters to live and breathe. I need to go where my characters take me.

“I want my novels to make people think, to realize that all those thoughts in their heads that they never share with others are shared by others.”