John Elvin

My hometown is Cumberland in western Maryland's mountains. I've lived and worked in most every section of the country.

My father's country weekly and then military information services provided my basic journalism training. I learned on the job.

I left the military with an ability to speak Morse code. That's a big help, particularly when it comes to understanding bar talk after midnight.

I worked most desks on newspapers, wrote magazine features and edited newsletters. And I'd get fed up with city life and wander off into the woods or beaches or bayous for a long spell.

Drawn to the intrigues of Washington during the Reagan era, I got an actual professional award for my "insider" column. I specialized in leaks, tips and backroom gossip. The column was called "coffee spilling time" on Capitol Hill. My scoops and pretty good predictions prompted a senior FBI official to comment: "I wish I had your crystal ball."

In addition to political shenanigans I've written extensively in many arenas, including investigations of fakes, frauds and hoaxes in fields ranging from antiques to literature. In recent years I've contributed a lot of stuff to Joey Skaggs' Art of the Prank web site. What I liked best about journalism was the opportunity to dig into mysteries, whether present day or historical. Experience gained in chasing mysteries of the real world now fuels my fiction.

*Refers to a First Place in the annual contest of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.