Sands Hetherington credits his son John for being his principal motivator for writing the Night Buddies series. Sands raised his son as a single parent from the time John was six. He read to him every night during those formative years. He and young John developed the Crosley crocodile character in the series during months of bedtime story give-and-take. Sands majored in history at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) and has an M.F.A. in creative writing and an M.

A. in English from UNC-Greensboro. He lives in Greensboro, NC.