FAQ
When did you decide to become a writer?
I knew in high school that I wanted to be a writer. Thanks to a strict, and
very motivating English teacher during my junior year, I learned that I
could master the rules and actually produce interesting words on paper.
Unfortunately my spelling was horrible, and I’d spend up to a week with a
dictionary in my lap correcting a paper before turning it in. I never got
100% correct spelling on one of those assignments. That was also the year I
started writing in a journal, and I still do that today.
What was your best subject in school?
My best subject was anything but math. I especially liked art and science.
English was okay, but it was more work.
Do you have any hobbies?
Yes. I have a lot of hobbies. I tie fishing flies, and love to fish for
brook trout on mountain lakes in my cedar strip canoe. I raise chickens and
quail. We have a garden every year. I keep bees to pollinate our fruit
trees. And I have hummingbird feeders all around our house. I enjoy dressing
up like a mountain man and going to rendezvous campouts in the summer. I
have been a hunter all my life. I hunt for elk, and deer with a rifle, and
for jackrabbits with my hand-made bow and arrows. I used to SCUBA dive a lot
at the Oregon coast, and mountain climb. But after I climbed Oregon’s Mt.
Hood I gave that up. Asthma made it hard to breathe up high.
What were the first chapter books you read?
I distinctly remember in fourth grade when a librarian introduced me to
Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan series. I remember how cool it was to
escape into a book and be part of an adventure. After that I read everything
I could get my hands on about pioneers, the west, Indians, adventure,
Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer, even John Carter of Mars. When I cried at the end
of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I realized how powerful the written word could
be.
Where did you live growing up?
My family moved a lot so I grew up in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, South
Dakota, Texas, and Idaho. I think of Oklahoma as home because I spent a lot
of summers on my grandfather’s farm there.
Are you working on any other books?
Yes! I have a “diving for treasure” manuscript almost ready for publication.
The next one is a western that’s half done. Following that one will be a
story about a boy growing up on a river in Oklahoma. It’s the same setting
as Where the Red Fern Grows takes place. If you visit my blog you can read
more about this sort of thing.
What did you like most about elementary school?
Recess!
I’ve heard that you were once a teacher. Is that true?
Yes. I was an elementary school teacher all my career. I have both my
bachelors’ and masters’ degrees in elementary education.
Do you ever write kids back?
Yes. I hope to answer every email, as long as I’m able. Now is the best time
to write me because it’s my first book and no one knows about me yet. Later,
when I have less time, I’ll probably have to just answer questions here on my
web site instead of individually.
Will there be a sequel to The Youngest Mountain Man?
Possibly. If there’s enough interest in this kind of story. I have some
ideas.