Thomas Steinbeck has sold numerous screenplays over the life of his career. In 2002, Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House published his first book of short stories entitled, "Down To a Soundless Sea". His first novel, "In the Shadow of the Cypress" was published by Simon and Schuster in 2010.Along with his writing and producing obligations, Mr. Steinbeck does a great deal of public speaking where he lectures on American literature, creative writing, and the communication arts and their benefits to contemporary society. He serves as an honorary board member at the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood and the Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University as well as the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, California .Thomas has been an active and verbal proponent of authors' rights. In 2009, he worked closely with his friend Arlo Guthrie, in a successful initiative to implement an extension to the settlement negotiations between Google and the Author's Guild.Mr. Steinbeck contributed to the My California Project, a collaboration of short stories written by twenty-seven of California's most important authors, in an attempt to save the floundering California Arts Council. "My California" is in its third print run.He has recently completed another work of fiction and a series of three novellas. He is currently working on a memoir.Thomas lives in California.