Bruce Hale is a writer and illustrator with a thing for lizards. His series of stories include Chet Gecko mysteries, a series of hard-boiled detective mysteries about a fourth-grade school-yard sleuth, and a series of Hawaii children's books starring Moki the Gecko. Hale says Moki and Chet are second cousins.

Hale is also a storyteller and actor. In 1998, he won a Fulbright Grant to teach storytelling and study Folklore in Thailand. He has been a featured storyteller at Honolulu's annual Talk Story Festival and the L.A. Times Festival of Books. He has performed on stage, on television and in an independent movie. Even as a child Hale went through phases, play-acting characters. He says it was good preparation for his writing career. He would write and draw stories and pass them around to entertain his friends.

"I love disappearing into a story, whether I'm writing or reading it. And I love humor. While I'm writing, if I can crack myself up, or if I surprise myself, I know I'm doing a good job.," he said.

In his spare time, Hale enjoys hiking, surfing and jazz music. He sometimes performs in a rock band called "The Savage Bunnies," with fellow children's author Fran Lantz. They specialize in old-time rock-and-roll, blues and original tunes about the rough life of a children's book author.