我于1948年出生在德州的加尔维斯顿，并在墨西哥湾沿岸附近的得克萨斯城长大。我在位于得克萨斯州中部，邻近拉格朗日镇（得克萨斯州最好的小妓院附近）的祖父母的农场中度过了大部分童年。
我在路易斯安那州拉斐特的印第安国家高中读书，并在1970年获得德州大学奥斯汀分校的英语学士学位。
我于1971年接受了斯坦福大学写作计划，并获得硕士学位。我的同学有斯科特•图罗、爱普瑞•史密斯（蒙大拿州的北部）、查金德（最后的山舞者）。我在旧金山湾区待了好几年，在那里我教大学文学和新闻学，担任“K-12阅读”和“数学课程”的编辑。我在文学杂志及期刊发表了许多短篇小说。
我于1976年回到了德克萨斯州的奥斯汀，继续写小说和剧本，并共同编辑（与创办者迈克尔•安德森）文学杂志“典当评论”。1980年至1986年间，我在得克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的哈利雷森研究中心担任学术期刊共同编辑（与戴维•奥利芬特）。
1986年我开始了为期十年的旅程，去了阿斯彭（我儿子的出生地），新奥尔良和亚特兰大。住在阿斯彭的日子为我的《库尔特•穆勒神秘系列》提供了丰富的材料，它最初是由德拉科特/戴尔出版，在意大利由蒙达出版社翻译出版。
在新奥尔良四年的生活为三部曲提供了灵感，包括《白联盟》和《穿过许多河流》。我正在写此系列的第三部。
我在很多迷人的地方都居住过（旧金山，伯克利，阿斯，奥斯汀，新奥尔良，圣达菲，亚特兰大，瑞士），这些经历为我的故事提供了素材。 我现在与我的妻子和孩子住在奥斯汀。
我是作家协会，美国侦探作家协会，德州学院快报（原副院长）和得克萨斯州作家联盟的成员。
I was born in Galveston, Texas, in 1948 and grew up in nearby Texas City, on the Gulf Coast. I also spent a great deal of my childhood on my grandparents’ farm in central Texas near the town of LaGrange (site of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas).
I attended high school in the Cajun country of Lafayette, Louisiana, and received a B.A. in English from The University of Texas at Austin in 1970.
I was accepted to the Stanford Writing Program in 1971 and earned a master’s degree. Among my classmates were Scott Turow, April Smith (North of Montana), and Chuck Kinder (Last Mountain Dancer). I remained in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, where I taught literature and journalism at the college level and edited K-12 reading and math programs. I have published numerous short stories in literary magazines and journals.
I returned to Austin, Texas, in 1976 and continued to write fiction and screenplays and to co-edit (with founding publisher Michael Anderson) a literary magazine, The Pawn Review. From 1980-86 I was co-editor (with Dave Oliphant) of a scholarly journal at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin.
In 1986 I began a ten-year journey that led me to Aspen (where my son was born), New Orleans, and Atlanta. Living in Aspen provided abundant material for my Kurt Muller mystery series, which was originally published by Delacorte/Dell and in Italian translation by Mondadori Publishers, Milan.
Living for four years in New Orleans provided inspiration for a trilogy that includes The White League and Many Rivers to Cross. I am at work on the third book in that series.
I have lived in several fascinating places (San Francisco, Berkeley, Aspen, Austin, New Orleans, Santa Fe, Atlanta, Switzerland) that have given me material for stories. I now live in Austin with my wife and children.
I am a member of the Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America, the Texas Institute of Letters (former vice president), and the Writers League of Texas.