A few words from the author himself...

I was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin and grew up near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I graduated from Northern Illinois University with a double major in History and Political Science, had a number of jobs that had nothing to do with history or political science, and now reside in Chicago.

When I set out to write the tales from Vampire Earth, I consciously and unconsciously mixed several genres and styles I grew up reading. My boyhood was filled with everything from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings to Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I cut a swath through massed enemies with R.E. Howard's Conan, faced terror out of time and space with H.P. Lovecraft's erudite heroes, and stood with C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower on the shot-torn decks of the Royal Navy. With my own set of wheels and some extra pocket money I graduated to movies, crossing the post-apocalypse outback with The Road Warrior , and standing tall with the help of Smith & Wesson in Clint Eastwood's assorted westerns and Dirty Harry movies.

David Valentine's world is a little bit of everything from the rich pulp stew of my youth. I knew I wanted a milieu as rich and threat-filled as Richard Adam's rabbits' eye view in Watership Down, as vast as Alan Dean Foster's Commonwealth, as chaotic as a Hieronymus Bosch painting, and as horrifyingly bloody as Lumley's Necroscope books. For after years of trying to write according to the tastes of teachers, editors, and publishers, my wise aunt Dawn Knight (author of some wonderful children's books) said to me "Eric, the only way you are going to enjoy writing is to write what you enjoy."

So to Dawn, I give you my thanks. Never has so much encouragement been given by someone with so little interest in the subject matter. There is a popular image of a writer sitting alone in a room, in a single-handed wooing of the Muse. But many, many other people who backed me up deserve thanks as well. My parents, who gave me so much love, encouragement, and support (and who are the heroes of my real life world)....My brother Stefan, three years younger than me but to whom I look up to so much....Stefan's wife, Katherine, who taught me that your work should be your passion....Teresa, who encouraged me to get the ball rolling, and Elizabeth, who read my chaotic first draft, and Marie who gives so much of herself without asking for anything in return. And of course, my lovely wife Stephanie, who acts as editor, researcher, and go-to gal extraordinare.

I met some great authors at the late lamented iPublish site whose work deserves better promotion than it's getting, including an old friend, Paul Pipkin and Scott Siegler, author of Earthcore, and J. Knight, author of the bestselling ebook Risen. Hopefully talent will still lift us out of obscurity.

eeknight
(that's E.E. Knight, not "eek, night!", you wags)

E.E. Knight is represented by John Silbersack at Trident Media Group.

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