MOST PEOPLE ASK: what’s up with my first name? It’s an old family name, brought to the new world from a little town in Scotland called Blair Atholl, (which is between Pitagowan and Aldclune). My family dropped the second “L” a few generations back, and being Americans we mispronounce it, saying “eighth-ol” with the accent on the first syllable.
The books I own say a lot about who I am. In my library you’ll find hundreds of suspense and mystery novels including the first five mystery novels I ever read (from the Hardy Boys series). There’s a section with most of the classics they forced on me in high school and college, which somehow seem to have improved since then. On my shelves you’ll also find twelve versions of the Bible and one volume from the Talmud (tractate Sanhedrin, a gift from a fellow student), along with many books on Judaism and Christianity. I have a whole shelf devoted to books about boats and boating, and several dozen travel books, a section on architecture, about two dozen screenplays, and twenty or twenty-five books containing good color plates of paintings, mostly by impressionists.
For more about my life and work so far, check out this brief biography. If you want to get in touch, please drop me a line or leave a comment on the blog. I’d love to hear from you!
