A baby boomer, I was born in the Bronx, New York, inheriting a love of reading and travel from my adventurous mother. Her fascinating story a book in itself, one I have yet to convince her to write, or allow me to write. I’m not sure where the writing bug came from, but I remember first putting pen to paper around the age of thirteen.

My restless urge to travel carried me around the United States and to distant corners of the world after college. Eventually I landed in Key West Florida, in search of a crew position on any cruising yacht heading for far horizons. In the interim I completed flight lessons and acquired my private pilot’s license.

I did find a yacht, a home built fifty five foot gaff rigged schooner, headed for the Caribbean, and I embarked on my first ocean crossing under sail. The experience provided a life changing epiphany, and I spent the next eight years living and sailing around the eastern Caribbean.

Long stretches at sea allowed countless hours absorbed in the pages of favorite authors like Chandler, Spillane, John and Ross MacDonald, Robert B. Parker, Le Carre, Forsyth, Follett, Dick Francis, Asimov, Clarke, Herbert, Wells, Verne, Bradbury, Heinlein, among others too numerous to mention. And time to write, short stories, a bit of science fiction, sailing and flying journals.

Following diverse careers as a charter and delivery captain, yacht broker, air traffic controller, marina manager, and raising two extraordinary kids, I now write full time, imbuing my love of the sea and sky in my characters.

Books by Michael Smart

         

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