McLaughlin, Tom M.: - Tom McLaughlin has been writing for years, creating advertising for products ranging from games and ice cream to enormous construction equipment. While working for a publishing company, he also promoted New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling books, authors, and illustrators. Raising three energetic kids, zigzagging cross country on family vacations, and growing up in a typically crazy Catholic family have given Tom years of writing material. The McLaughlin clan currently lives in a 100-year-old bungalow in the Midwest. When Tom's not renovating or writing, he's piloting the crew on another adventure. Or he's simply in the backyard battling the dandelions and crabgrass.