Harlan Coben — American Author born on January 04, 1962,

Harlan Coben is an American author of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past and often have multiple plot twists. Both series of Coben's books are set in and around New York and New Jersey, and some of the supporting characters in the two series have appeared in both... (wikipedia)

Let me back up a little and tell you why I prefer writing to real life: You can rewrite. A novel, for example, can be cleaned up, altered, trimmed, improved. Life, on the other hand, is one big messy rough draft.
I live in the suburbs, the final battleground of the American dream, where people get married and have kids and try to scratch out a happy life for themselves.
Hope can be the most wonderful thing in the world or it can crush your heart like an eggshell.
More than once, I've wished my real life had a delete key.
When you like something and you're pretty good at it and you can make a living doing it, you don't ask why. You just count your blessings and go with it.