Wayne Stinnett is a USA Today Bestselling author of more than thirty novels and one non-fiction book on writing. He’s also a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, as is his main character, Jesse McDermitt. Between those careers, Stinnett has worked as a deckhand, commercial fisherman, dive master, taxi driver, construction manager, and truck driver, among many other things. He lives with his wife and youngest daughter in the South Carolina Lowcountry, just a few miles from Parris Island, where he went to boot camp. They also have three grown children, four grandchildren, a crazy Carolina dog, and a large cage full of parakeets. He grew up in Melbourne, Florida, and has also lived in the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Cozumel, Mexico.
Stinnett still gets down to Florida regularly, but more often than not, it's via his imagination and writing. All his books are set primarily in the Keys and around the Caribbean. His stories revolve around a retired Marine by the name of Jesse McDermitt, a charter boat Captain who lives on an island in the Middle Keys, where he explores, dives, and fishes the back country of Florida Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Florida Straits. That is until trouble comes looking for him.