Bio / Portfolio

BIOGRAPHY

Rob O’Hara is a prolific writer, blogger, and podcaster. He was born, raised, and currently resides in Yukon, Oklahoma with his wife and two children.

Rob fell in love with writing at an early age, contributing articles to both his middle school’s newspaper and high school’s yearbook. In college, Rob served as the editor of his school’s newspaper and yearbook. In 2001, Rob earned an Associate of Arts degree in journalism. In 2015, Rob returned to college and earned a Master of Professional Writing degree from the University of Oklahoma.

Rob is a collector of collections, and maintains an eclectic list of interests and hobbies. He is a subject matter expert on retro arcade games, video games, and computers. He has served as a paid contributor to multiple print magazines including Video Game Collector, Video Game Trader and Forever Retro, and provided content to dozens of websites including Retroist.com, TheLogBook.com, PopCultureRetrorama.com, and Review-O-Matic.com. Most recently, Rob has had short stories published in The Dead Mule of Southern Literature and The Taco Bell Quarterly.

In 2006, Rob published his first book, Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie, which went on to sell thousands of copies. In 2008, Rob published his second book, Invading Spaces: A Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Arcade Games. In 2017, Rob published his first fiction novel, The Human Library.

PORTFOLIO

BOOKS

Rob self-published his first book, Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie in 2006. He self-published three nonfiction books before shifting his focus to fiction. Rob’s first novel, The Human Library, was published in 2017. Rob is currently working on multiple fiction and nonfiction works.

  • Commodork: Sordid Tales from a BBS Junkie (Nonfiction, 2006)
  • Commodorkier: New Tales from an Old Dork (Nonfiction, 2021)
  • Invading Spaces: A Beginner’s Guide to Collecting Arcade Games (Nonfiction, 2008)
  • The Human Library (Fiction, 2018)

    BOOK CONTRIBUTIONS

    Rob has contributed to multiple books, including forewords, features, and technical articles.

    SHORT STORIES

    Rob has published multiple short stories. Here are three of his favorites.

    MAGAZINES and EZINES

    Rob has contributed articles and reviews to dozens of print and electronic magazines. He has also contributed his time to multiple publications, including serving as a content editor and submission reviewer for the popular Taco Bell Quarterly.

    NEWSPAPERS

    Rob interned at two newspapers while in college, and spent two years as a feature columnist for the Minco Millennium.

  • MINCO MILLENNIUM: Feature Column Writer (2010-2012)
  • EL RENO LIGHT: Intern, Reporter (1991)
  • EL RENO TRIBUNE: Intern, Reporter (1992)
    WEBSITES

    Rob has contributed articles and reviews to dozens of websites since the inception of the World Wide Web. Below is a soft sprinkling of examples.

    PODCASTS

    Rob launched his first podcast, You Don’t Know Flack, in 2008. Since then, he has gone on to create several popular video game and retro-themed shows, releasing content on a regular basis. In addition to his own shows, Rob has been invited as a guest to many popular podcasts including No Quarter, Retrobits, The Adventure Club Podcast, Eight and a Half Bit, Flux Capaci-Cast, and many others.

  • YOU DON’T KNOW FLACK (Host) (LINK)
  • SPRITE CASTLE (Host) (LINK)
  • MULTIPLE SADNESS (Host) (LINK)
  • THROWBACK REVIEWS (Co-Host) (LINK)
  • KOOKY TALES PODCAST (Co-Host) (LINK)
  • VIDEO STORE PODCAST (Co-Host) (LINK)

    YOUTUBE

    Rob has been creating, editing, and posting video content for over a decade. In addition to his video game podcasts and streams, Rob is also the man behind the popular vanlife series “Big Rob’s Van”.

  • RobOHara (Various Content) (LINK)
  • BigRobsVan (Vanlife Content) (LINK)

    PUBLIC SPEAKING

    Based on his experiences with self-publishing and writing and his historical knowledge of computers and arcade games, Rob has been invited to speak publicly on multiple occasions.

    • UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL OKLAHOMA
      • Scripting and You (2019)
      • Security and You (2018)
    • DEFCON
      • Self-Publishing in the Underground (YOUTUBE) (2007)
    • NOTACON
      • The World of Free Book Publishing (YOUTUBE) (2009)
    • OKLAHOMA ELECTRONIC GAMING EXPO
      • Collecting Arcade Machines (2009)
    • OKLAHOMA CITY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
      • The Evolution of Video Games (2009)

    INTERVIEWS

    Rob has been interviewed multiple times about his books and podcasts. Here are a few of his favorites.

  • ASSOCIATED PRESS: Classic Video Games Make Comeback
  • OXFORD KARMA: On Oklahoma Arcades and Writing (2015)
  • AMIGOS: Commodore Computers (2015, Audio)
  • RETROBITS: Commodork and Self-Publishing (2007, Audio)