Look and Listen

Biography

After spending more than a quarter of a century as a pioneer in the computer industry, Alan Cook is well into his second career as a writer. Run into Trouble is a mystery/suspense novel about a footrace along the California coast in 1969, during the Cold War. But is the Cold War about to heat up? Honeymoon for Three is his second book featuring Gary Blanchard. It has won the Silver Quill award from the American Authors Association and been named the best Mountain West Book by Reader Views. When Gary and Penny leave on their honeymoon, they don't realize that Alfred is following them and watching their every move. In The Hayloft: a 1950s mystery, Gary is a high school senior who gets kicked out of one school and has to enroll in another—the school where his cousin Ralph died mysteriously six months before. It features bobby sox, slow dancing, bomb shelters, and the communist conspiracy. Hotline to Murder takes place at a crisis hotline in Bonita Beach, California. When a listener is murdered, Tony and Shahla team up to uncover the strange worlds of their callers and find the killer. His Lillian Morgan mysteries, Catch a Falling Knife and Thirteen Diamonds, explore the secrets of retirement communities. Lillian, a retired mathematics professor from North Carolina, is smart, opinionated, and loves to solve puzzles, even when they involve murder. Alan splits his time between writing and walking, another passion. His inspirational book, Walking the World: Memories and Adventures, has information and adventure in equal parts. It has been named one of the “Top 10 Walking Memoirs and Tales of Long Walks” by the walking website, walking.about.com. He is also the author of Walking to Denver, a light-hearted, fictional account of a walk he did. Freedom’s Light: Quotations from History’s Champions of Freedom, contains quotations from some of our favorite historical figures about personal freedom. And The Saga of Bill the Hermit is a narrative poem about a hermit who decides that the single life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Alan lives with his wife, Bonny, on a hill in Southern California. His website is alancook.50megs.com.

Inspiration

Alan's mother and grandmother wrote articles and poetry, so it's no surprise that Alan took after them. His preferred area for fiction is the mystery, since he is an avid puzzle solver, but he has also done a number of long walks (the coast of California, and from Los Angeles to Denver) and writes on walking as well.