A native of rural central Illinois, Frederic S. Durbin was writing before he could read (though that period of his work is largely misunderstood). In school, he loved English, acting, singing, and band; in college, he devoured mythology and English literature and majored in classical languages. He spent twenty-two years in Japan teaching ESL and writing, mostly at Niigata University. Recently returned to the U.S., he is a writing coach and continues to spin tales of fantasy for children and adults. If he could create his ideal writing space, it would be a well-lighted desk in a vast cavern chamber or in the depths of a forest, beside a waterfall.