"It seems I have always been writing something. When I was in grade school in Allentown, Pennsylvania, I had the best essays and my sixth grade autobiography was a crowd pleaser.
I wrote a novelette about a teenager in a Space Academy setting and his adventures on distant planets. My early writings were in the sci-fi and horror genres, engendered by Poe and, giving away my age, the writers for "The Twilight Zone."

"While I was in the Navy, I wrote short stories and poetry, and began my collection of rejection slips. I also fell in love with the Caribbean. When I was discharged, I attended some classes at our Community College, one of which was a creative writing course. Some of my poems and a few short stories were published in their annual art and literature magazine. I continued to add to my rejection slip pile.
I did have my "fifteen minutes of fame" when I submitted my short story, Bumper Crop, to a local newspaper for their feature article "Short Story Writers of the Lehigh Valley". I made the front page.
When I retired, I started submitting stories of my Navy experiences to my ship's newsletter and they were well received. My wife, Joan, seeing how everyone liked my sea-stories, suggested I write a book.
On a trip to the Outer Banks, I rediscovered pirates.

"I had always enjoyed the cannon smoke and sword-fights of the swashbuckler films and when I began to research them, I found their bloody careers even more interesting than anything on the screen.
10 December was my first novel of piratical adventure published. I have had two others published since.
Headlong into Hell is the last of the Toby Heath trilogy, Satan at the Helm and Spriggs preceding it.
I enjoy telling stories about the seas and the violent men who sailed them, and hope that readers enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them."
 

Karl can be reached at Kwh432@aol.com