Jonathan Stars

In my previous life, I was an award-winning singer, songwriter, and comedian. I got the FileMaker database bug in 1986 when I started using it to keep track of my entertainment business, and wrote my first book about it in 1999. That title, Learn FileMaker Pro 10 (Wordware Publishing ISBN 1-59822-071-3), is now in its seventh edition, but both FileMaker and I have moved on.

When I was in school I dreaded writing. It was the days before computers. I wasn't a very good typist and always hated it when I had to revise something I'd written since it required typing the whole thing over. Writing on the computer was a Godsend! I could type as fast as the ideas flowed out of my brain and then organize and spellcheck them later. After I'd written a number of articles about computer software and other more personal pieces, my plan was to write about ten articles on FileMaker and then pull them together and do a book on the software. That was my plan. It turns out writing a book is not the same thing as writing ten articles. In fact...

Writing my first FileMaker book was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life - and I've been divorced twice! As I finished up the last chapter, a writer friend of mine said, "Uh-oh. Now you have to write the foreword." I said, "Are you kidding? I've been saving that for dessert. It doesn't have to be in a step-by-step format. I can just write anything I want - what I think and feel." And it really was a treat. I kept the idea of writing something different close by...

In 2011 I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. It was an amazing process that produced 150,000 words in just three months! I expected it to be drudgery, but it was exciting. I continued to rewrite and polish until I released it under the title "2035" in May of 2012. Please check out the current version, "N-hanced," by going to http://amzn.to/1NXNXiz and taking advantage of the Read Inside feature to get a preview.

Among my many non-writing projects, I've developed databases for The State of Michigan governmental agencies, CRG Regional Telephone Directories, ICT Cable, various international associations, Marco Music Publishing in Nashville, TN, and Yale University's NARCOMS database. My company, Data Design Pros, LLC, is a member of the FileMaker Business Alliance and I have my own column in FileMaker Pro Advisor magazine online. I've also written for EQ Magazine, Apple COREspondent and numerous association newsletters. Musical projects include a CD for the MSU Jazz Octet, Ray Kamalay's Jazz Improvisation instructional CD and audio engineering on the Boogie Stomp documentary featuring boogie woogie piano wizards Bob Baldori and Bob Seeley due out in the fall of 2010.

I have a number of websites I'm in charge of including: www.DataDesignPros.com (my database business website), MoviTraX.com (a site devoted to software I've developed for movie editors), TheTechnoGrouch.com (a site where I act out my love-hate relationship with technology) and www.N-hanced.com. I'll be starting a writing website soon at www.JonathanStars.com, but right now that address points to my business site.