Novelist Mick Jett is a veteran journalist and freelance writer, who was published globally in magazines and newspapers before starting to write books on a full-time basis. He began his career as a sports writer for The Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser, then served on the staff of the Tennessean as wire editor, page designer and feature writer. His next stop was major metropolitan newsroom of The Miami Herald where he worked for more than two decades. Along the way, he compiled the best seller list in Miami for The New York Times and  contributed to that newspaper's Names in Bold column. Mick also worked as a freelance correspondent for the British news agency Reuters and the American wire service United Press International. His reports were also carried internationally by the Knight-Ridder News Service. In other fields, he taught journalism for two semesters at the University of Miami and served on the board of the Ace Academy in Coral Gables, FL. He  serves as a volunteer with American Red Cross, an Air Force veteran, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and the American Legion.  Mick says, "The works of several brilliant authors strike me as ideal..The two most  influential fiction writers on my own scribblings are Mark Twain and Patrick O'Brian, both masters of scene setting in different genres. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has been a favorites since childhood and his abilities to sketch characters in a few short words were masterful.  "History is of great interest to me and the military writer Cornelius Ryan stands out as a near-perfect example of a meticulous researcher of fact combined with enviable and  flowing skills as a wordsmith."  For a long period I was fascinated by the great Russian novelists. Vladimir Nabokov's mastery of American English and slang amazed me while the others kept me glued to their book. When I first began reading the great Russians, I found it difficult to identify the characters because of the annoying habit in that vast country to burden individuals with multiple names. After dealing with that problem I dove straighaway into the works of such masters as Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Gogol, Pasternak, Solzhenitsin and Pushkin. I've probably left out a few names but my great years take their toll on the memories. American and British writers, however, are my favorites and my taste is definitely catholic. As a young airman I admired Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. Ann Rule is wonderful, as is Nora Roberts, both geniuses in their own genres.