Max rarely does signings, but when he does it will be announced on the website, through his monthly newsletter, and on social media.

Yes, the link is here on the site.

Not definitively.

The largest fish Max has landed (and released) is a Goliath grouper weighing over 400 lbs. In years past, he released two large sharks boatside: a nurse shark estimated at 350-400 lbs. and a 12-foot blue shark weighing over 700. Both of these would have qualified as all-tackle world records, but Max refused to kill the fish.

Around ten years ago, Max was doing a two-day giant grouper trip down in Boca Grande. On the first day, most of the fish were “small”: 40-90 pounds, with the exception of one decent adult, a 78” fish estimated at 400 lbs. That fish was a powerhouse, and broke all the roller guides on the “indestructible” unlimited-class custom rod Max was using. The next day, while using a big tuna rod as backup, the fish were plentiful and weighed 200+ pounds. At one point, while hauling in what felt like another grouper, something gigantic came up out of a 70-foot hole on the bottom and seized Max’s fish. He was yanked sideways, slammed into the poling platform, and almost pulled over the side. He braced his feet against the gunnels and hung on for dear life. A moment later, there was a loud cracking sound as his tuna rod broke in half. Now, Max’s fishing guide liked to use 100 feet of 500 lb. test steel cable as a leader on his rods, to keep from being cut off. Well, this steel cable went screaming off what was left of that rod until it ran out. Then, seconds later, the 400 lb. test mono that was the main line snapped like sewing thread. Whatever seized the hapless grouper made off with its victim and left behind a boil on the surface as big as the 19-foot flats boat they were standing on. What was it? Your guess is as good as ours.

It is. Max’s father was friends with Sasha and a frequent guest of his, from the late 50’s until the “Tiger Man’s” death in 1970. Although Max doesn’t remember meeting him (he was a small child) the stories his father told him second-hand about the “Tigrero” and his jungle exploits had a substantial impact.

Yes, it is. Back in in 2009, while vacationing in Kissimmee, Florida, Max and his dad were attacked by an aggressive alligator in the 200 lb. class. They were shore-fishing and the animal had Max’s father cornered (he was 80 with a heart condition at the time). Max had no weapons, so he had to drive the gator off with the landing net they were using to land Tilapia. The gator came back a second time, this time far more aggressively, and Max had to beat it over the head repeatedly to dissuade it. After that, it tried to kill a neighbor’s dog as they watched. Apparently, it was a problem gator that Animal Control was never able to catch.

Those are something Max’s readers came up with, after they heard about some of his close calls, like the aforementioned alligator attack and escaping from a locked, burning SUV, seconds before it became a fireball. Max is very action-oriented and has rescued several “damsels in distress”. He has caught and released sharks up to 700 pounds, and done both the bungee jump and the polar bear plunge. Ironically, he rarely drinks, so whoever ends up holding all those beers must really be enjoying them!

“Apparently, so. Sadly, it seems I keep her very busy.”

“Seen, no. Experienced/physically interacted with, yes.”

Max has seen a Sasquatch swimming and diving for crayfish. He also encountered a cryptid in a cemetery outside Philadelphia that is believed to have been a Strigoi. These experiences, as well as a third encounter, are all detailed in his Amazon #1 bestseller, Monsters & Marine Mysteries.

Although he attended Catholic school as a child and is deeply spiritual, Max considers himself more or less an agnostic.

Max’s birthday is April 6th. With the exception of heartfelt book reviews, he tends to decline gifts. Pay it forward.

Max tends to judge people, including political candidates, not by their surface but by their substance.

Yes. Max’s father is descended from a Baron of the French Empire who, in the service of Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, led armies into battle during the Napoleonic Wars. His commands included the cavalry of the Vistula Legion and, as Brigadier general, the 32nd Light Cavalry Brigade of the V Cavalry Corps.

Back when Max was young, buff, and working as an animator for MTV, he was asked to portray the part of a police officer for “A Tribe Called Quest’s” video, I Left My Wallet in El Segundo. You can see the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WILyWmT2A-Q

Yes. Many years ago, while returning with friends from a fishing charter, Max hauled a drowning dog out of the murky waters of Gerritsen Marina. After thanking him by shaking even more water all over him, the dog (a black Labrador) refused to leave his side.

Max’s favorite reads as a teen included: every Marvel Comics he could get his hands on, plus, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, Terry Brooks, and Peter Tonkin 

Max grew up watching “Creature Double Feature” and Godzilla movies on TV, as well as classic series like the original Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica.

For a decade prior to penning his first novel, Max did small pieces for outdoor magazines. In 2002, while vacationing in the Florida Keys, he had the opportunity to board the sistership to Hemingway’s beloved Pilar. He got to sit in the author’s fighting chair, at his desk, and even tapped away on the typewriter “Papa” used to write, The Old Man and the Sea. From that point forward, he was “hooked”.

Max’s brain constantly churns out book ideas. Some of his best ones come to him while he sleeps. As a result, he keeps his cell phone nearby so he can text himself stuff that comes to him in the middle of the night.

No, for obvious legal reasons.

No. Again, for obvious legal reasons.

Unfortunately, no. Your best bet is to get a book like the Writer’s Market. It will let you target legitimate agent’s/publishers that match your writing style and genre.

When it comes to writing recommendations, Max gives the same advice his friend, screenwriter Chris Parker, once gave him, many years ago: Purchase Stephen King’s “A Memoir of the Craft” and read it. And remember King’s advice: “The road to Hell is paved with adverbs!”