The names came from various sources.

"Gamadin" came from the classic buddy film, Gunga Din, with Victor McGlaggen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Cary Grant, and Sam Jaffe as Din.  Deeen!  Deeeen!

Harlowe?  I always liked the names from the old movies, like Marlowe.  Humphrey Bogart and James Gardner played the cool detective, Philip Marlowe.  Why not a surfer?  But Marlowe, the surfer, wouldn’t work, so "Harlowe" was born.  "Pylott" is a derivative of Pilot.  Pilot the ship from the stars.

"Riverstone" -- I needed a good buddy name, so I played around with names until I found the one I liked.

"Sook" is a common Korean name for a girl.  I thought it was different enough to be in my story.

Everybody likes the name "Harry."   Harrys always seem to be good guys.

"Monday Platter" came from the name of a tenant who lived in one of the apartments I was refurbishing.  When I first heard the name, I said, “You’ve got to be kidding.”  I never forgot it, and thought it would make a great character name in a novel.

"Simon Bolt" originated from an old TV series (I can't remember which one) in the early 1960’s.  They had a movie star friend named "Bolt Upright."

"Leucadia Mars" was easy.  Leucadia is a small, Southern California beach town just north of San Diego.  And Mars, of course, comes from the 4^th planet where Harlowe, et al., find themselves marooned on in the second book.

"Mowgi" came out of thin air.  It just seemed to fit his little dog appearance.  Of course, if he was normally in his big, angry mode, he might have been named something like, "Buster" or "Bruiser."

"Buster" and "Tinker" come from my past, when I was a lifeguard in La Jolla, California.  They were the names of my Lieutenant and his wife.  I knew one day I was use them somehow.

No.  Actually, I have written a few others before Gamadin.  After a couple of false starts, I finished my first novel in the mid 1980’s called . . .you guessed it, The Find.  It was about a couple of young guys who go on their last camping trip together in the desert. One of the boys has the big C and is near death. He could die at any time, but they do it anyway against all the parents and doctors' orders.  A big thunderstorm hits their campsite and then everything goes downhill after that. It’s actually a pretty good story and one day I'll probably revisit it one of these days.

I believe it would be arrogant for us to believe we’re the only ones who survived the Big Bang.  As for the possibility of aliens visiting Earth, that’s a little more problematic. There are such great distances to travel from even our nearest neighbor, 4.+ light years away, that it would be a monumental task just to get to one star, let alone travel around the galaxy like my characters do. I’m not sure the government would tell us if they ever did discover, or have discovered, that aliens have come here in the past.  I trust what they say about a much as I trust them to do my taxes. So to answer the question, I hope so.  I think that would be fun to know that we’re not alone out there.  Of course, in my books, the universe is like Grand Central Station.  We just need a way of getting around in order to locate all those friendly folks.

When I’m writing, it's pretty much every day until the first draft is done. I get up about 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, no alarm clocks. I just get up because the story is normally on my mind and I’m focused on that. Mornings are my best time. Afternoons are my worst. But I seem to get a second wind in the evening.  Mornings, though, are when I get the bulk of my writing done.  I always love seeing the sun come up through my window.  I have no set amount of time I write, either.  I usually write until I get tired and I can’t see straight.  That’s when I stop.

My dad is my greatest hero.  He had a 30-year career in the Marine Corps.  He started out in China in 1938, guarding the U.S. Embassy in Peking.  Then World War II came along.  He was awarded the Bronze Star for valor.  He was shot, blown up and stabbed for his country.  He was awarded two Purple Hearts, and had a chest full of medals.  He served in the Korean and Vietnam wars.  It doesn't get any better than that.  Yeah, that's my dad -- my greatest hero.

Click my dad's photo to visit the web page that is dedicated to Marine Corps in his memory, and listen to him sing the Marine Corps Hymn in 1941 like no one else, and all without instrumental back up.

My secondary heroes were Mickey Mantle, Roberto Clemente and Walt Disney, in that order.  Oh, and John Wayne.  He’s on the list, too, right between Clemente and Walt.  They were all great heroes in my book.