I began writing for magazines more than three decades ago to share the experience of my adventures, especially those related to wilderness and ocean travel. Most of what would later become my second book: On Island Time: Kayaking the Caribbean, was first scribbled in a notebook each night in my tent by candlelight as I paddled my way south from Florida to the Virgin Islands. A condensed account of that solo kayak trip became my first published work in the form of a feature article for Sea Kayaker magazine in 1990.
Those first articles eventually led to ten traditionally-published books: seven of them nonfiction and three novels. I’m glad I had the opportunity to experience the traditional publication process, but by late 2014, I decided it was time to move on and embrace the changes that were sweeping the industry. Seeing the opportunity to reach more readers and publish what I wanted on a much faster schedule, I went independent in 2015 and continued to write and publish sequels to my first two novels: The Pulse and The Darkness After. Both of those stories became multi-book series and led to my more recent works, including the Feral Nation Series.
I’ve been an avid reader since childhood, and many of the books I read growing up had a tremendous influence on my life choices later, inspiring me to live my dreams and set out on some challenging adventures. It was inevitable that I would end up writing my own books someday, and the advent of the Internet changed this business in ways I would have never imagined, most of them great for both the reader and the writer. Today more than ever, it is possible for a writer to connect with readers in so many new and interesting ways that I could not imagine not being a writer. Blogging and other forms of digital publishing as well as digital photography and video have made it possible to instantaneously get a message to anyone worldwide. It’s an exciting time to live in and I’m delighted to be able to participate. Thank you for stopping by and thank you for reading.
Florida Keys, one month into my solo kayak trip to the Caribbean, 1988
Gulf of Mexico crossing aboard my Cape Dory 27, 2013
Solo camp on Cat Island, Gulf Islands National Seashore, 2004
Arrival in Vicksburg, MS after 2600-mile solo kayak trip from Canada, 1990
Turn River, Everglades National Park, 1987
Lake of the Woods, Manitoba, near start of Canada to Mississippi solo kayak trip, 1990
Gila Wilderness, New Mexico, 1995
Honey Island Swamp, Louisiana, 1992
Chickasawhay River to Gulf of Mexico trip for the book Paddling the Pascagoula, 2004
Jungle camp on the shores of Samana Bay, Dominican Republic, solo Caribbean sea kayak trip, 1989
Bay Springs Lake, Tenn-Tom Waterway, in a Verlen Kruger Sea Wind expedition canoe, 2013
Northern Arizona wilderness hike, 1995
Sicsayeri village, upper Coco River on the Honduran/Nicaraguan border, 1991
Ft. Myers, Florida, after a passage across the Gulf of Mexico from Biloxi aboard my friend, Artie's Pacific Seacraft Orion 27, 2006
Camped at Cape Sable, southern tip of Florida, Everglades National Park en route to Key West by kayak, 1996
On Black Creek, the finest canoeing stream in Mississippi and the entire Deep South, in my opinion, 1995
Touring the Ozarks and Quachitas, Arkansas, 2014
Rio Coco, Honduras/Nicaragua, 1991
In the marshes near the mouth of the Patuca River, Honduras, 1995
Aboard Intensity, the 1968 Grampian 26 I restored and lived aboard around 2001-2004
At the helm of Intensity, my Grampian 26, 2004
Finding my boat, Intensity, a month after Hurricane Katrina destroyed much of the Mississippi Gulf Coast., 2005
At the helm of Halcyon, Orion 27, midway across the Gulf of Mexico, 2006
Riding the North Star Road, Gila National Forest, New Mexico, 2019