In second grade Jeff Mack says his teacher “enthusiastically supported” his writing and art projects. She sponsored a Halloween writing contest that he entered with a story about a skeleton at school who tried to fit in despite a series of unfortunate events, such as the food leaking through his bones at lunch. Mack won the contest and still remembers it as a moment of pure encouragement.

The sonogram photograph on his website indicates that he was born with a pen in his hand. Perhaps a bit of a stretch, but he recalls stories that swam through his head as a young child. Since he could draw before he could write, he expressed his story ideas through illustration. More…