For the past 40-some years I have earned a living teaching tennis. My writing was confined to articles published in trade journals. My primary passion outside of tennis has always been horses. When I became a father (I have two daughters) I found that I had a certain knack for making up stories. When I was in my 50's I decided to write a novel, which I assumed would only be read by my youngest daughter who seemed to like my stories. In the process of writing I discovered a love of putting words together. Sometimes it is painfully difficult to get down on paper what I want to express, but as with anything worth doing, the patience and perseverance it takes makes the end result worth the effort. Writing has made me more appreciative of great writers and I relish reading now more than ever. So now I divide my time between tennis, horses, writing novels, and reading. I love Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, Dumas and Maupassant, Robert Louis Stevenson, and James Fennimore Cooper, and many others.