He went to college in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Chicago, Illinois, studying creative writing under Tom Churchill and Richard G. Stern.
For the next eleven years, he taught and coached a variety of subjects and grades in Alaska, Arizona, and Wisconsin before taking a degree in public administration and settling in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
In 2003, Dooley edited the anthology Eclectica Magazine Best Fiction V1, which was a finalist for the Independent Publisher Book Award.
[4] Dooley also contributes to Eclectica as an op-ed writer in the magazine's Salon section, has done the occasional music review, and once interviewed well-known conspiracy theorist Michael Ruppert.
His review of Willis Alan Ramsey's self-titled debut album and his discussion of John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee character are popular links.