About the Author

My journey as a storyteller began with a profound moment of wonder: watching 2001: A Space Odyssey as a twelve-year-old alongside my father. While he dozed through Dave's transcendent transformation into the star child, I sat transfixed—witnessing what remains one of cinema's most mind-expanding sequences.

Growing up as a farm kid near the forests and lakes of northern Minnesota, I've always been fascinated by the wonders of nature. On warm summer nights, I would lie beneath the dancing aurora borealis, captivated not only by the ethereal beauty billowing across the sky, but also by the cosmic forces that create such a magnificent display.

Words have always been my sanctuary. My mother loves to recount finding me absorbed in the World Book encyclopedia as a young child. As a teenager, the B Dalton bookstore in Grand Forks became my personal haven. Today, my science fiction collection commands an entire wall in my basement den — a testament to a lifelong passion.

Watching my own children develop their love for science, nature, and storytelling has been one of life's greatest joys. I began writing Cloud and Thunder's adventures when my youngest son, Nathan, turned twelve—the same age as my protagonist Ben Eliot. These stories honor both my childhood and the powerful intersection where science and imagination meet.

Before embracing my calling as an author, I dedicated my career to teaching mathematics and computer science at Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, where I discovered that equations and algorithms can tell stories just as compelling as words on a page.