This former high-school journalism teacher published a number of young-adult novels before moving to Hollywood to pursue a showbiz career. He joined the writing staff of the teen drama Dawson's Creek in its first season before creating the short-lived dramedy Cupid in 1998. After penning two middling big-screen romantic comedies and working on the flop series The Education of Max Bickford, Thomas transformed an idea he had for a book into the cult teen noir series Veronica Mars in 2004.