About the author that's behind the Dugan Chronicles?

What's the difference? The people. It really is just that simple.

For starters... The author,(that's me...by the way) is a professional trucker. I've been driving for thirty years. So I've been around you see. From one coast to the next, from the Canadian border, all the way down to the Rio Grande. I've seen it all, at one time or another. I've seen a lot of things and met some really great people along the way too. I've visited some of the coolest of places, there is to see and I've seen those that have seen better times.Even so, America is just one grand adventure after another. Even from the confines of my truck.

But, like any other country, it's the people that makes a country what it is. And America certainly has a lot of colorful people, to say the least. It's from some of those people, that I drew some of my characters. While none of my characters are based solely on any one person. They're actually a combination of several different people, That's why I can't say any one of my characters are based on any one person.

I grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles. The city of La Puente, is about twenty-five miles east of L.A. That's where I grew up. And believe me when I say that growing up in the county of Los Angeles, back in the sixties and seventies is a lot different than it is today. I grew up respecting the local law enforcement agency, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. I knew a lot of them on a first name basis. But, it was on the television that my affection for the LAPD got it's roots. And just like my character, Matt Dugan will tell you, Jack Webb was the man. His show Dragnet was the best. Then came Adam-12 and Emergency. All written and produced by Jack Webb himself.

I grew up watching people like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on TV. Shows like 'The Outer Limits' and 'Rod Sterling's Night Gallery' added just the right amount of mystery to my childhood. However, it wasn't until later, when I was older and looking back at those old shows, that I realized what made all of them, and so many others, so special. What was it about those old shows that made me remember them? SIMPLICITY!

There wasn't any wild far fetching scripts or any special affects, that clouded your vision about the real story. Simple and to the point. Just like Jack Webb said so many times before..."Just the facts."

So when I started writing, I tried to maintain that same level of simplicity in all of my many stories. Did I do it? Was I successful in reaching my goals? I think so. For one I tend to write in very easy to read language. I don't sugar coat my stories with complicated words. I do get my point across and so far, I haven't found anyone, that doesn't like how I write or what I write for that manner.

Writing The Dugan Chronicles is one way of facing my day. I know from the night before, where all of my characters are in the story and I have all day to decide what happens next. You see, most of my material, was written with my trusty computer, perched upon the steering wheel of my truck. Having my characters so close at hand, has brought me to a point of actually knowing them. Confused? I'll explain just how close I get to my characters, so you'll understand it. I was on Interstate 80, headed west across Nebraska, when I gabbed my cell phone,from the dash and started searching my address book for Katie's phone number. All I wanted to do was to check in with her, to see how everything was going. But, I couldn't find her number. No matter how hard I looked, it just wasn't there. Then it hit me.

Katie, as in Katie Windslow isn't even a real person. Katie is the star of my romantic novel "Hearts of Grey." And yet, I was getting really upset because I couldn't find her phone number.

Okay, So maybe I did get a little too connected. But, that's my point. My characters become a part of me, just as I become a part of them. They say that a person's FIRST BOOK is a reflection into the writer's soul. If that's true, then I'm more than happy to have my Soul connected to "Hearts of Grey." It is, after all one wonderful, heart felt story.

However, back to The Dugan Chronicles. When I first started writing, it was at the persistent pestering of a very close friend. For three long years, my friend kept telling me to write a book. Finally, just to get him to shut up, I agreed to write a book. That was the start of a mystical ride that I hope never ends. With characters like Matt and Kelly, leading the way, how can I miss. Right now, I'm working on my 15th novel, the seventh in The Dugan Chronicles series. However, I'm certain that it won't stop there. Because, as of right now, and my brain is counting them, out loud,... I still have another two dozen stories in my head. So finding or thinking up new story lines isn't the problem. The problem is time. There's never enough time in the day to do everything that there is to do.

But, with the passing of time, comes another new day, that's full of promises and stories untold. For me, this is where I'll find my peace. On word at a time... one story at a time.

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts... Until Next time. GBYA EARL GOBEL