I’ve been telling stories for most of my life, although I didn’t begin by writing books. I was born in Brooklyn in 1951 and grew up in Queens, New York. My professional writing career began in advertising, where I worked as a copywriter for N.W. Ayer/ABH International. Advertising taught me something I’ve carried into every book I’ve written: get the reader’s attention, give them a reason to keep reading, and never waste their time.

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Eventually, I began writing the stories I wanted to tell. Over the years, those stories have taken me in just about every direction imaginable—suspense, mystery, humor, children’s stories, family memories, Irish folklore, cooking, and even the art of glass etching. I’ve never been particularly interested in staying in one literary lane. If a subject fascinates me, there’s a good chance I’ll eventually write about it.

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My Irish heritage has also played an important part in my life and writing. Ireland appears in some of my work not because every story I tell is Irish, but because that heritage is part of who I am.

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Today I’m retired and still living in Queens, New York, where I live with my wife, Billie. She is also an important part of my writing process, proofreading and editing many of my books when needed. And I’m still writing. After all these years, opening a blank page and wondering what might happen next remains one of my favorite things to do.