Michael Manning spent his formative years in Texas, reading fantasy and science fiction, concocting home-grown experiments in his backyard, and generally avoiding schoolwork. Later at college his love of beer blossomed and his love of role-playing games led to what he calls his 'best year ever' and what most of his family calls 'the lost year'. Eventually he graduated and by some strange irony, became a pharmacist. Unfortunately, Michael was not a very good pharmacist. Being free spirited was not a particularly good trait to possess in a career focused on perfection, and the letter-of-the-law. He wound up working in pharmacy informatics (for the safety of the public) but after ten years or so, he eventually grew tired of that as well. So he wrote a book, and one thing led to another, after a while he gave up trying to live two lives (much to his mother's chagrin), and here we are.