When David Patneaude was a youngster, his favorite story was Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, a tale of adventure, suspense, mystery, and best of all, buried treasure. David never found pirate plunder of his own, but now he digs for a different kind of hidden loot--story ideas. David lives in Washington, with his wife, a junior-high-school librarian. They have three grown children and two grandsons.