I grew up in Bremerton, Washington, along the shores of Puget Sound. I can't imagine a better place for a kid to live, especially with two brothers. I wish everyone could experience the fun we had on the beach, out in the water, and in the woods around us with our friends. Kids should have fun, as long as it's safe and not harmful or disrespectful to anyone else. This is one of the key elements in developing a creative mind.

One day, when I was a teenager, looking out at the water, I saw a penguin floating by our house on a log. In all my time there, that was the most unusual sighting. We would occasionally see whales, sometimes seals, always seagulls and other birds, but penguins don't live anywhere near Puget Sound.
Years later, when I had moved to the Midwest and began having my own family, I remembered that penguin and wondered how it got there. After much research about penguins and other creatures that might have anything to do with them, I wrote the first book that answers the question of why a penguin was in Puget Sound and where it was going.

So far I've written Volume 1, The Long Way Home, and Volume 2, The Smell of Evil. The series should be complete as a trilogy with Volume 3, which isn't done yet. I think it will be called The Last Wave. I've thought about possibly having other related books about some of the characters that turn up in the story.

Originally I was hoping to write it for my children, but I’ve always had a desire to write a real book, so I ended up writing it for publication as a children’s book, approximately ages eight and above. My intention was also to make it so adults could enjoy it as well. I’ve read many children’s books to my kids, and some of them were very enjoyable for me, and I really looked forward to reading those.

Most books are written from a particular view of life, and as a result a message will find its way into the book, even if the author is just trying to tell a story. Some authors intentionally weave a message into their writings. For a message to have any credibility the story must be good. My story is told from the viewpoint that God exists, and he should be a real part of life, instead of some far off idea that shouldn’t be thought about. In my story, the animals live with the knowledge that they have a Creator, and that they are there for a purpose, not by accident. Sometimes this message comes out loud and clear. At other times it is in the background, and I’ve also hidden messages in perhaps unexpected places.

If I was any good at marketing and promotion, I would have taken advantage of the penguin popularity that resulted in many movies, like March of the Penguins, Madagascar, and Happy Feet. Actually, because I saw the real penguin that inspired the story, I conceived and wrote it long before any of those.