Wil Mara has been writing and publishing books since 1988. He began with a manuscript about herpetology, a childhood hobby, and sold it to TFH Publications, who at the time was the world’s largest publisher of animal books. Several months later he gave them a second one, at which time he was offered a position on their editorial staff. He would go on to write a total of 18 titles during his tenure. In 1996 he left TFH in search of new challenges. He accepted a position as a senior editor with Harcourt Brace and, in his spare time, tried his hand at fiction. He started with a story for the popular ‘Boxcar Children’ series, which eventually became The Mystery of the Pirate’s Map (Boxcar # 70). He would go on to write four more Boxcars, plus over 75 other titles, for both children and adults. (A complete bibliography of his work can be found here.) Through the years he has also worked for the now-defunct Troll Communications, as the director of their Canadian Book Clubs, and as an editor for textbook publisher Prentice Hall. In 2002 he began his first novel for an older audience. It chronicled a tiny island community’s reaction to the grim news that a tsunami would be hitting their shores in just over two hours—not nearly enough time to evacuate everyone. This book would eventually become Wave, a megahit that went into a second printing in less than three months (in spite of a modest marketing budget and a bankrupt distributor) and won the 2005 New Jersey Notable Book Award. Shortly after Wave’s release, Wil turned to writing fulltime and secured a deal with NYC publisher St. Martin’s Press for a string of mainstream titles—his ‘NFL novels.’ Mixing real-world factuality and behind-the-scenes detail with imaginative storytelling, these books are rapidly accumulating a loyal readership and have been endorsed by the likes of Indianapolis Colts’ general manager Bill Polian, Hall of Fame head coach Marv Levy, and veteran Sports Illustrated journalist Peter King. The first in the group, The Draft, was released at the end of October 2006, and the second, The Cut, a year later. Wil is currently writing the third book and has several other storylines in development.