Dear Reader,

When I was in college my English Lit professor discovered my ambition to become a writer. "Ah," he said with a smile, "someday I'll be able to say I taught the author of a Great American Novel."

"No sir," I promptly replied. "I have no desire to write a "Great American Novel" that only a select few will read, and even fewer understand. What I want is to write stories that entertain, that give normal people the chance to put their feet up and escape their real lives for a while. I want to tell them the stories only I can tell them, and take them to places they could never go without me. If I can do that, I'll consider it a job well done."

All these years later, I still feel the same way about my books. If I can help you forget your troubles for an hour, I've done what I set out to do. So pull up a chair, get comfortable, and, in the words of Gypsy Rose Lee, let me entertain you.

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