I was born in Oklahoma; spent my summer rite-of-passage years in Wyoming while Dad worked seasonally for Grand Teton National Park. I worked over 40 entry-level jobs including driving an ice cream truck, skinning elk, cooking in a Chinese restaurant, train inventory for the Forest Service, caretaker of rental cabins, gardener for the Rockefellers, pizza parlor manager, belt buckle buffer, and multiple dishwashing jobs. Throughout this period I lived most of the year on public lands, first in a tent and later in a Cheyenne tipi. The more mind-numbing jobs have helped me to hone my creative skills, but all of these experiences have helped me to learn to appreciate life and its inherent follies. I have published six novels and a book of columns. I wrote eleven screenplays for hire; two have been made into movies. My last three Hollywood projects were bio-pics of Ron Popeil, Gorgeous George and a guy who got breast implants on a bet. Now, I'm back to literature, comparatively. I turned forty with no phone, TV, or flush toilet and spent more time talking to the characters in my head than the people around me. Now have eight phone lines, four TVs I don't watch, three flush toilets, and a two-headed shower. My wife and I recently adopted a little girl from China. I'm now living happily (indoors) with my family (wife, Carol; son, Kyle; daughter, Leila) in Jackson, Wyoming.