Prolific author who had a phenomenal record of selling his works to Hollywood: over 50% of the 16 novels and six books for
teenagers he wrote, as well as several of his 14 short stories, were
either optioned, sold or made into films or made-for-TV movies. This amazing literary batting average was due to
his truly original stories of all types and genres, as well as the fact that he told linear stories, with beginnings, middles and end,s without
a lot of interior monologues or flashbacks; these qualities helped make the stories readily adaptable to the screen.