I am a firm believer in the idea that much of what we write is some sort of autobiography. There are certainly parts of my life that play out in the books that I write. Well, not so much in the junior novel of A Christmas Carol, but you know what I mean.
I was born in PISA, ITALY - home of the Leaning Tower and birthplace of Galileo. Needless to say, when you drive into town there's not likely to be a sign that reads Welcome to Pisa: Birthplace of Galileo and Jamie Ponti. But, all things considered, I think it's a pretty great place to have been born.
I grew up in ATLANTIC BEACH, FLORIDA where my mother first started to teach me to write at a very young age. I wrote my first real story in the second grade. It was about Mickey Mouse's birthday and in the story he got a lamp as his present. I think was a pretty "interesting" choice for a 7-year old to make. (If you continue reading you'll see that Mickey and I were not done yet.) My mom insisted that my brothers and I learn to type at least 35 words per minute before we got to high school. In the days before computers this was pretty odd but has certainly come in handy.
I went FLETCHER HIGH SCHOOL where I had the best 11th Grade English teacher ever - JUDITH WHITE - who really challenged me to be a writer. It is in her honor that there is a teacher named Mrs. White in each of the books that involve a high school.
ATLANTIC BEACH and FLETCHER figure prominently in my writing. ANIMAL ATTRACTION and SEA OF LOVE are set in fictionalized versions of both. Like the characters in these books, I ate lunch every day in the patio outside the cafeteria underneath the giant THIS IS FLETCHER COUNTRY sign.
I went to the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA where I earned a degree in screenwriting and where I went on a blind date and met the love of my life. This blind date was the inspiration for the central plot line in PRAMA. I think my writing style was forever shaped by the fact that I studied film and television writing first and foremost. Even when I'm writing books, the pace and style that runs through my head is very film based.
Most of my career has been spent writing for television. I spent a few seasons writing the MICKEY MOUSE CLUB back when Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Ryan Gosling, Keri Russell and JC Chasez were all mousketeers who virtually no one had ever heard of. After that I spent a few seasons writing for the NICKELODEON series THE MYSTERY FILES OF SHELBY WOO. It was then that I first got the opportunity to write a media tie-in book which in turned launched my career writing books. I have also written for the animated series JOJO'S CIRCUS, STANLEY and CLIFFORD'S PUPPY DAYS.
In addition to writing I have produced series for the HISTORY CHANNEL, SPIKE TV, TNN and GOLF CHANNEL, which is where I currently work.
I have been married for over nineteen years to the most amazing person in the world and we have two pretty incredible teenage boys and two pretty lazy, Lab-mix dogs. I love to travel, read and go to the movies. I spend way too much time on Facebook and of course I love to write.