David Tucholski is having an exceptional year. Engaged to be married on March 11, the Herndon resident also recently had his first novel published, titled "The Good I Stand On." By day a government contractor, by night a writer, David Tucholski is this week's People Profile.
Number of years in the community. Just under one year, my fiancé and I moved here in May, 2005.
Family. I will be married March 11, so after that date, Susan Tucholski will be my spouse. But for now she is Susan Zier. No children yet.
Education. I have a bachelor's in Information Technology from Radford University.
Current job/primary occupation. I like to consider myself as having two jobs. By day I work for a government contractor as a computer analyst, but by night and on weekends I am a full-time writer. That's really my life's passion.
Achievements. I have recently published my first novel, "The Good I Stand On." It is too early to tell how well it will do, however I have received favorable reviews and an endorsement from fellow Virginia native and author, Adriana Trigiani, which I consider to be a great honor.
Activities/interests/hobbies. I don't have a lot of time for hobbies, as writing fills the majority of my free time. But I love reading as much as I can, particularly early 20th century American literature. In my opinion that time saw some of America's greatest writers. I also love the ocean and spending time with Susan and my troublemaking Labrador retriever, Joe. He's a monster, but a lovable monster.
Favorite local restaurant or place in the community. I have taken a great liking to Jimmy's Old Town Tavern. It's not the typical pretentious Northern Virginia bar and it reminds me of a small town hang out. Also, it's the only place I have ever found in Virginia that serves Polish food. I love pierogies, they were the first dish my grandmother ever made for me when I was a kid.
What brought you here? Great location and a nice community.
What did you want to be when you "grew up?" I always had the ambition to be some kind of an artist. I started writing comic books at a very young age, and dabbled in drawing. So writing, I think, is really what I was heading toward. I never dreamt of being a computer analyst though, that just kind of happened. But hey, it pays the bills.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Hopefully writing full time.
Personal goals. My biggest career goal is to do what I love for the rest of my life — write novels. But as for general life goals that are equally, if not more important, I want to be a good husband — which I will be tested on very shortly — and an even better father, as I am very much looking forward to parenthood in the coming years.