Ray Costa

I just celebrated my 52nd wedding anniversary with my high school sweetheart. That half century produced three daughters and seven grand children; the oldest grandson goes to college this fall. Since 1984 we have always had one or two rescue dogs in the house. The current two are Wags, a poodle/shih tzu mix, and Molly, a rough coated Jack Russell terrier. We live in the shadows of Six Flags Great America, in Gurnee Illinois. We are eight miles south of the border with Wisconsin, and four miles west of Lake Michigan. Before moving here, we lived in Skokie Illinois for 32 years. I restore and collect watches, clocks and cars. The house is full of them. We are also stuffed to the rafters with books, and more arrive daily. During my work life I wrote technical articles about school finance and research articles in anthropological journals. I also wrote more than 300 school board reports. I hear you say, "Boring!" and you are correct. However, I enjoyed my career and had chances to do things that people dream about. As a Chief School Business Officer I built buildings, prepared large budgets, hired and fired people, drove a school bus, and dealt with all things legal. As a professor I taught gross Anatomy and Dental Anatomy to a whole generation of dentists. I started writing fiction when I retired. My first novel, "The Favor," took six months to write and a year to edit. My writing improved as I spent more time at the kitchen table, pounding away at my lap top. I pounded hard enough and long enough that I wore out that computer and had to buy a new one. I write when a good idea pops into my head, about once a year. Like Stephen King, I set up a situation, develop some characters, and see where they take me. I think of myself less as an author and more as a reporter. Often I get so involved with my characters that they become real to me, and it is hard to type "The End" when I'm done. Several of my books are demanding sequels so the characters can have further adventures. I'll see.