Living mentors who helped me form my work:

The late Bertrand Heflin, Daytona Beach Junior College.
The late Michael Shaara, Florida State University (Tallahassee).
The late Wyatt Wyatt, University of Central Florida (Orlando).
The late Stephen Becker, University of Central Florida (Orlando).
Harry Crews, University of Florida (Gainesville).

I published my first piece in a home-town newspaper at 10 years old. I believe writers are created, not born; they are created by a miserable childhood from which they flee into the pages of literature. One other ingredient necessary is a conviction that they have something to say their current society is not listening for or to. my literary influences are too many to be listed here, but they tend not to be minimalist. hawthorne, melville, and dickens, along with feodor d. and kafka are my classical favorites, with john dann macdonald, stephen king, harry crews, and dean r. koontz my contempory favorites.
 

florida flambeau (FSU -- Tallahassee) editorial excellence, 1972
Associate of Arts w/honors -- Daytona Beach Junior College 1969.
Bachelor of Arts -- Florida State 1972.
Florida magazine (Orlando Sentinel) top ten story writer -- 1972.
3rd place statewide for news features, Florida Press Association, 1989
2nd place statewide for editorial excellence, Florida Press Association, 1990
Master of Arts in English Literature at University of Central Florida, 1989
First book published in October, 1990.
Second book published in September, 2005.
Third book published in June, 2006.
Fourth book published in June, 2007.

andy ray's fifth book -- the Everglades are Burning, a novel -- will be published in May, 2008. It's about a 32 year old itinerant but bright newspaperman who comes to the Everglades with one desire -- to become filthy rich. He does, but it leads him places he never imagined, with people who he didn't know existed. ** if you would like to read and participate in a novel-in-progress on-line go to andy ray's website and click on the page reading "The Key Lime Pie." Andy is writing the 22nd Travis McGee novel, picking up where his mentor John D. MacDonald left off in 1986. Travis is approaching his 50th birthday and meets his soul mate. Difference is she stays alive through the book. The first seven chapters are done, but Andy isn't against anyone telling him where trav and his friends are going or how he's going to himself or his bride from being killed. andy ray is available for book-signings, media interviews, or other events.

andy ray's website
all about andy ray and his writing.

The Everglades are Burning
Doy Ott Briscomb comes into the Florida Everglades, an almost homeless drunk at 32, for his new job. One phrase keeps repeating itself in his mind: His mother saying, "If you are so smart, Butch, how come you're not rich." He becomes richer than he could ever dream through sales of legal and illegal things, winding up dissolute living in a Palm Beach mansion. And then the fun starts!

the key lime pie (the 22nd Travis McGee novel
imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. A lifelong admirer of John Dann MacDonald, I'm trying my hand at a 58-year-old McGee who finally marries in this 22nd Travis McGee book.