Ray HoyA hopeless romantic, chaser of rainbows, lover of dogs, and reluctant realist, Ray Hoy has been a professional writer, editor, publisher, and producer for six decades. During his long media career he also managed to spend twenty years as a casino mareting consultant working with major Nevada gaming properties. He retired from the "casino wars" in 1997.Ray's Jack Frost tales are loosely based on characters he met during his two decades in the Nevada gaming business. Are his stories connected in any way to actual events? Not quite. If they were, Ray says he'd probably have to go to jail for not coming forth with pertinent information, and he offers this: "Let's just say that the casino business generates more than its fair share of (often nearly unbelievable) stories, and let it go at that."Jack Frost is a composite of three Special Forces men Ray met when he was in the casino business. Those men are gone now, victims of their chosen profession. They were amazing warriors doing an amazing job. Frost's sidekick, J.T. Ripper, is based on a real Doberman by the name of Scorpio. Ray was introduced to that monster dog by a friend who knew he was in the process of creating a Doberman character for his Frost books. Scorpio is gone now, too (as so many real warriors are), but J.T. Ripper carries on.The Ripper that Ray created gets more fan mail than Jack Frost does. Ray has no idea why, because the Ripper he created was born pissed, and he pretty much hates everyone and everything-everything except an occasional shooter of Scotch. Ray defends Ripper's Scotch habit: "We all know that dogs should be kept away from alcohol of any kind, but since Ripper is not of this world, he can do whatever he damn well pleases, and believe me, he does. Truly a fun dog to write about." Read More Read Less