Leela Cutter

Mark Giles got the writing bug in the 1970s while working for Robert Heinlein--supposedly doing yard work. But in reality he was seeing how a major talent worked and thought. It took a long while to become a decent writer, but Mark--with his writing partner Linda Shank--finally got a mystery series published under the pseudonym of Leela Cutter. The wife of a hollywood producer told her husband, Peter Fischer, about their books. And he took them on as two of the original writers of his new series. The show was "Murder, She Wrote." After that the duo stuck to scripts, selling a fair number, both in the film and TV arenas. They also worked with WGBH on a PBS special, and went on to produce a travel series called "Small Places."

Mark used the Hollywood loot to go to graduate school, intending to teach American History at the college level. Unfortunately, a severe spinal injury led to a long period of recovery. Eventually, Mark became a video editor of legal seminars. One was entitled "Writing the Legal Thriller," and the lightbulb went off over his head. The result is the "Wolf Hunter." He still thinks movie for plots and scenes, but now equally enjoys the words themselves. He hopes you will, too.