Bonus Content

While my writing style is my own, it didn't just happen when I picked up a pen.  I spent years writing stories, then discarding them when I would read them, and know they weren't something I would read, if someone else wrote it.  I wanted to know and learn the mechanics of telling a story, of creating suspense, of making people smile, and even making them cry. 

The authors below do all of that, and more. I learned from watching how they do it.

Elmore Leonard - I love his incredible characters, such as Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Maximum Bob, Karen Sisco, and others. If you are going to create a character, make them memorable.

Carl Hiassen, Dave Barry, and Christopher Moore - All of these guys write some of the funniest stuff you will ever read. What you see in my novels is my sense of humor; I learned how to get it onto the page from these gentlemen.

John D. MacDonald - I don't believe anyone does hard-boiled, first-person narrative better than Mr. MacDonald, especially in the Travis Magee novels. It was by reading his work that I figured out how to properly relate the story to the reader.

John Steinbeck - I learned from JS that you need to truly care about your characters, as though they are real people. If you do, then the reader will, too.

James Lee Burke - No one describes things as beautifully as Mr. Burke. He is the original cowboy poet, and is beyond emulation. That said, I believe I owe it to the reader to describe things in a way that they'll remember, long after the story is over.

We all imagine what characters look like. Sometimes I'll describe what someone looks like, but usually, I just leave most of it to you, the reader.

There are times, especially with main characters, where I will (in my head) base their appearance on someone. Here are a few of those. (You are, of course, free to make the characters look however you like).

               The Danny Mac novels:

 - Danny McGraw is based on the actor Josh Duhamel. 

- Regina is based on a combination of a younger Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Megan Fox.

- Carl Marks is based on Tommy Lee Jones (with a Sam Elliot mustache).

- Stefan looks like Pierce Brosnan (but younger).

- Armando looks like Antonio Banderas

               The Win James novels:

- Win James, as noted from the outset, looks very much like Prince Harry.

- Grace Warner is based on Belorussian violinist Natalie Vedeneeva (she is all over social media).

- Johnny Shade is loosely based on a younger Kevin Costner (also noted in the novels).

- Alexander Kurtsov looks a lot like Gerard Butler

-Virginia Westin is based on Charlize Theron (as she appears in the movie Atomic Blonde) (an excellent spy movie, as well).

At the top of my list are the authors listed as influences. That said, there are others, and the list is not small. Here are a few of them:

Robert Heinlein, Robert Crais, Lee Child, John Sandford, Neal Stephenson, Nelson Demille, Lawrence Block, James S.A. Corey, William Gibson, John Varley, Larry Niven (with Jerry Pournelle), John Ringo, and Joe Haldeman.

If you recognize those authors, then you know that the majority of what I read for entertainment is science-fiction. 

The first book I ever read was "Space Cat", by Ruthven Todd. 

I was five years old.