HI, I'M Miles Ballard
Author of the Louis Vila series | Florida Thrillers
In the second grade, Miles Ballard wrote his first play, which his father typed up on goldenrod paper he cadged from the university where he taught. When the little girl he had a crush on wanted to rewrite the play with him, Ballard agreed, with reservations. It was the last time he ever collaborated on an artistic endeavor with anyone.
From Neck Deep:
"It doesn't hurt much to get your throat cut, Gene Shoemaker thought. Once the surface nerves are gone, there's just the warm gush, then the panic, then a calmness that passes understanding–or so he hoped. They had dragged him out of the truck bed by his boots, hands tied in front, head bouncing against the hardpacked sand, and threw him into an aluminum canoe. When his ribs cracked against the gunwales, well, that hurt a lot more than a knife ever could."