As a boy, award-winning writer, Reavis Z. Wortham hunted and fished the river bottoms near Chicota, Texas, the inspiration for the fictional setting for The Rock Hole. He was born in Paris, Texas, but lived in Dallas. “We grew up in the city and went to school there, but every Friday evening my parents put us in the car and made the 120-mile drive to Chicota, where we truly lived at my grandparents’ place in the country until Sunday evening, when we came back to the city. Our true home was that little farm in Lamar County.” Reavis graduated from W.W. Samuell High School in Dallas. He attended Eastfield Junior College and graduated with a B.S in Industry and Technology from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M, Commerce). Upon graduation, he began a teaching career in Garland, Texas. He received a Masters in Education from E.T.S.U. and after ten years in the classroom, Reavis took the job as Communications Specialist for the GISD and remained in that department until he retired as Director of Communications in 2011.

He is the author of Doreen’s 24 HR Eat Gas Now Café. Humor editor and frequent contributor for Texas Fish and Game Magazine, he writes on everything from fishing to deer hunting. In addition to several other magazines, his work has appeared in American Cowboy and Texas Sporting Journal. A retired educator of 35 years, he and wife Shana live in Frisco, Texas. They have two daughters, Chelsea and Megan.

Since 1988, Reavis has written a self-syndicated weekly outdoor column for numerous Texas newspapers. 

Dozens of his articles have appeared in: Texas Fish and Game, Texas Sportsman, Western Angler, Central Texas Outdoors, American Cowboy, Vintage Trucks, and Texas Outdoor Journal.

An award-winning writer and photographer, Reavis has been recognized for his unique style of outdoor journalism. In 2002, he received First Place in the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) in the Magazine Humor category for “Shooting Squirrels in a Barrel.” He also took second place in that same competition for a magazine article entitled, “Totally Retro: Hunting with the Longbow.” Additionally Reavis is a past president of the Texas Outdoor Writer's Association (TOWA), and has been recognized numerous times by TOWA for his work in both magazines and newspapers. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the Writers' League of Texas.