Mark A Ridgely

I’ve wanted to write since seventh grade, finding a place on the high school newspaper, writing for the Heidelberg University newspaper as the sports editor and taking several creative writing classes, gave me an outlet for writing.

Most of my writing over the past 30 years was for business communication. I started my own business in insurance and real estate. After 17 years, I sold the business and started a new career. Amongst the trials and tribulations of the career change, I started writing to keep sane.

In December 2012, I started my first fictional novel "Duck Hook.” It was a book derived from stress and the desire to write. "Center Cut," the continuation of the Sam Snead Hook story, was started a few weeks after Duck Hook was completed.

I enjoy writing for several reasons, but I have to say, one of the biggest is the characters talking to me. I must tell their story. Sam Hook lives in my head and his story consumes my thoughts, as do many others.

My family begrudgingly supports my solitude to write. I am an avid golfer and read obsessively. My daughters, Hannah and Kirsten, are in the working world. My wife of over 30 years, Becky, is a first grade teacher, giving the stability to finish what I start. Then there’s Ava, my best friend. She’s an English Setter, supplying the never ending love to move forward.