After college I took my first writing job in N.Y. as a copywriter in the NBC ad department; later promoted to NBC speechwriter. First short story published in the transatlantic review, then given a blind deal by E.L.Doctorow, then an editor at Dial, to write a novel (Counterparts). Published several more novels, including novelizations of two movies I wrote (Hugo the Hippo and Carny); one (It Looks Alive to Me!) that sold to the movies; Out of Body, a People Magazine “Beach Book of the Week’; and most recently, The Memory Gene. Published several short stories, mostly in Playboy, one of which (The Big Pieces) was optioned for the movies. On the strength of the Carny screenplay, moved with my wife, a movie producer, and our two sons to L.A., where I worked as a feature and TV writer for two decades, alone (The Sender) and in collaboration with Marshall Brickman, (Simon, The Manhattan Project) and Wes Craven (Nightmare Café). Nominated for several cable awards for my work as writer and director on HBO