“My wife and I grew up in New Orleans and moved here 24 years ago. I worked for BellSouth and was in charge of installing and repair for a five county area but then new phones became cheaper than repairing them. In New Orleans I worked with computers and was a sergeant with the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office for 10 years. I worked with electronics and wrote poetry since I was 10-years-old. My wife decided she wanted to write murder mysteries so we signed up for a writing class at the University of South Alabama with Joe Formichella and Suzanne Hudson. When it was completed, a group of us formed the Fairhope Writers Group. We would read and critique each other. I was the moderator for several years. I started Southern Oaks Publishing and have published over 30 books and most of them are for other people. I have written five books–a book of poetry, a legal thriller, a spy thriller, and fiction stories based on a murder case and jihad case in New Orleans. My wife and I are working on our next books. She has a sharp sense of humor and I call her ‘my crazy cajun woman.’ Writing is so enjoyable but it is hard to find the time to do it. Jot a skeleton of a story down and fill in the gaps and put the meat on the bones, then the characters take over. You also have to research like a fanatic because people pay attention to the details.”