Biography of Paul McCusker

Paul was born in 1958 in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, but spent his formative years outside of Washington DC in Bowie, Maryland. He was given his first typewriter early in his childhood and hasn't stopped writing since. Although he received a college degree in journalism, Paul's first love was writing sketches and plays for Grace Baptist Church. From those efforts came his earliest published drama collections for the prestigious Baker's Plays, including Sketches of Harvest, Souvenirs and Batteries Not Included. His dramatic works have also been published by Lillenas Publishing Co., Contemporary Drama Services, Group Books and Monarch/Gazelle Books in England.  
In 1985 he moved to California where he worked with Continental Ministries and wrote plays for the nationally-renowned drama group The Jeremiah People. This led to his work as a freelance writer for the Focus on the Family radio drama called Family Portraits, which later became Adventures in Odyssey. Since joining the Focus staff as a writer in 1988, Paul has written over 300 half-hour episodes for Odyssey and has also written 18 tie-in novels and two screenplays for the animated series. He was the Producer for the series from 1992-1996 and the Executive Producer from 2000-2004. Paul is now Creative Director at FOF, which means he thinks up stuff and then writes it.
In addition to Adventures In Odyssey, Paul helped to create Focus On The Family Radio Theatre, writing and directing many of its productions. Milestones include the Peabody Award-winning Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom, all seven books in CS Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series, the acclaimed Father Gilbert Mysteries, Jan Karon's At Home In Mitford, the Audie-winning Life of Jesus, A Christmas Carol and many others.
Paul's dramatic writing has also extended to musicals. He was nominated for a Dove Award for A Time for Christmas, with music and lyrics by David Clydesdale, Steve Amerson & Lowell Alexander. As a lyricist he has worked with composers Michael W. Smith and David Maddux to create songs for First Call and Cynthia Clawson.
His novels include Catacombs for Tyndale Publishing, Epiphany and The Faded Flower for Zondervan Books, and You Say Tomato with best-selling British writer Adrian Plass. Epiphany was nominated for the ECPA Gold Medallion Award. He has authored the popular Zondervan novel The Mill House, and its sequel A Season of Shadows. His non-fiction includes Playwriting: A Study In Choices & Challenges for Lillenas and The Ultimate Youth Drama Book for Monarch/Gazelle.
Paul and his wife Elizabeth live in Colorado Springs with their two children.