About
the Author
I was born on a Tuesday in
Dothan,
Alabama, two days before Thanksgiving Day.
Since then I have celebrated with Mr. Tom Turkey on eight Thursdays (you do the math).
It might not be apparent by the silent photo (to the left), but I have a long Southern heritage complete
with a grandfather who was the mayor of Dothan, and great-great and great-great-great grandfathers
who served in the Confederate Army (6th Regiment Alabama
Cavalry). Once I
learned that my Southern roots run deep, I was proud to concede that my Southern drawl
must be due to a genetic disposition rather than the more popular view: a medical condition caused from constant sunstrokes and sunburns to the
neck resulting in a thick tongue and a slow mind.
The angels let one slip through the crack when I married Sue Marie Shealy,
my Dothan High School sweetheart, in 1977. I knew she must be under some
sort of spell when she said she married me for my hands. Regardless, I
still proclaim to be the first boy to have kissed her at a spin-the-bottle party in the eighth grade. Promising her a life filled with adventure and travel,
we went cold turkey on sweet tea and boiled peanuts and headed out to see the world. During the last thirty-three years
we have changed addresses approximately every four years (coast-to-coast,
and overseas), bolted-on car tags from seven different states, and
been blessed with two wonderful children: David and Anna.
After college, I served six years as an Air Force pilot, five years as a corporate pilot, and twenty-one years as a commercial airline pilot with a
mAAjor airline based in Washington D.C., Nashville, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
My flight experience equates to having spent over two years in the air in everything from Piper Cubs to jumbo jets and seaplanes to helicopters.
The fictional stories I write are derived from the real world—where we all
live—stories about the
world as it is, strange and real and full of grace.
As individuals we are unique works of art, but within our human
experiences (successes, failures, and heartaches) we are connected by a
common thread. It is my goal that each story I write entertain, evoke emotion, and leave
my readers with a message of hope for a better tomorrow.
Join me on a Flight to Paradise.
"...this
debut novel carries the promise that another Wiregrass native is poised to
become an important part of the contemporary fiction landscape,"
says Wiregrass
Living Magazine.
