GARY A. BRAUNBECK was born in the Year of the Rat and has been apologizing for it ever since. When he's not out and about stopping strangers on the street and begging them to forgive him for his sins, he can usually be found holed up in his office writing stories and novels in any number of genres. His work has been nominated for the International Horror Guild Award and has won the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award. Gary is also a creative writing instructor at Seton Hill University, where he teaches in an innovative master's degree program in writing popular fiction. He doesn't get invited to many parties, which everyone agrees is for the best. He currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, where no one has heard of him. He claims to like it that way. Visit him online at www.garybraunbeck.com.