Co-Author Daniel Brenton

Writing has always been a major part of my life. My original exposure to the power of the written word was through my mother, in her reading stories to me at bedtime. The common thread of the material she would choose was “the long ago and the far away.” It was not unusual for her to read recast-for-children Bible stories, European fairy tales and legends, and watered-down sagas from Classical Mythology. She pushed me into learning creative expression: drawing, music, and writing. I suspect her motivation was a desire to find vicarious fulfillment, but I must concede that she may have seen some latent talent in me.

My childhood shaped my creative expression as well. My life in the small town Indiana of the 1960’s was dominated by two very different influences. The first was the church, a short succession of Protestant denominations foisted upon me on Sundays, Holy days, and for two weeks of church Summer School. The second was the Moon Race, which captured my imagination and inspired me into a parallel journey through an ever-changing Solar System of my own making, which, in reflection, was about as far away from Indiana as I could imagine.

My father’s career took us to Salt Lake City, and I met David S. (Dave) Michaels at the local planetarium, at an astronomy club meeting. I remember starting a conversation with this guy wearing an Australian cowboy hat (of all things) and we realized we both went to the same junior high. Dave and I had remarkable creative chemistry — we quickly discovered we both shared a fascination with space travel, with “hard” science fiction, and with writing, and we became inseparable. This was a beautiful time in my life. and if I could package the sense of wonder I lived in then, I would have more money than Bill Gates.

It was during this period that the challenging (and intimidating) idea that I could actually write a novel hit me.

As a young adult writing returned as a fascination and nagging need. Over the years, writing under the name “L. George Daniels,” I wrote my first faltering but serious steps at the science fiction short story, and had the opportunity dropped in my lap to be creative in a number of other forms: a short-lived satirical column (under the name “Matthew Broderick Crawford”), an equally short-lived comic strip, and a Devo-esque rock tune that played once on every dweeb’s favorite source of strange, The Dr. Demento Show. I eventually even took a shot at romance and mystery shorts, but kept coming home to “the long ago and the far away.”

My best work to date is my contribution to Red Moon. The opportunity to work with Dave on the novel was a (teenage) dream come true, and seeing it in print has been an validating experience of deeply personal significance.

I live in suburban Las Vegas with my wife and psychotic cat.

Visit my weblog, The Meaning of Existence (and all that): The Odd Little Universe of Daniel Brenton.