I Didn't Dare Think Of The Future;

The Worst Letters Come From Retired High School English Teachers. They Will Literally Take A Book And Pick It To Pieces And Send Me 14 Pages Of Notes.

I Grew Up In A Very Small, Close-knit, Southern Baptist Family, Where Everything Was Off-limits. So I Couldn't Wait To Get To College And Have Some Fun. And I Did For The First Two Years. And I Regret A Lot Of It, Because My Grades Were In Terrible Shape.

I Did Get Tired Of Hearing That Criticism Years Ago. That Is Not A Compliment. Being Labeled A "beach Read" Is A Put-down. So, I Did Deliberately Set Out To Write A Book, Camino Island, That Would Be Very Entertaining And Compulsively Readable And We Published It On June 6 In Time For Summer Vacation, Hoping That People Would Buy It And Take It To The Beach.

One Thing You Really Have To Watch As A Writer Is Getting On A Soapbox Or Pulpit About Anything. You Don't Want To Alienate Readers.

Ricky Had Taught Me A Few Cuss Words. I Usually Practiced Them In The Woods By The River, Then Prayed For Forgiveness As Soon As I Was Done.