Sands Hetherington, creator of the Night Buddies series of chapter books, credits his son John for being his principal motivator. Together they developed the Crosley crocodile character 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.