How it began

       I wrote my first book when I was five — a picture book. I wrote my first novel when I was twelve — a Knights of the Round Table tale, with eleven knights (my lucky soccer number), of whom one was a girl. I spent the next twenty years getting an education and teaching high school science. Being around teenagers all day left me dreaming at night about new worlds with great characters and lots of drama. I needed to write it all down. I started journaling.

       One night, I met Gar (then Sharkboy), a boy who lived in the river and swam like a fish, and he would not leave me alone. Ours was a graceless beginning. In my dreams, Gar emerged from the river on a foggy evening and heard a teenage brother and sister arguing about the swim team finals. How was their public school team ever going to beat the private school team and their paid-for ringers? Enter Gar! Problem solved.

       Luckily, as I started writing about Gar, his story became less Saved by the Bell and more botched alien invasion.