I have always loved to read since I was a young child and my grandmother used to read me Bible Stories from one of those huge Bibles that southern people used to keep on their coffee tables. She would read me those stories and the people and the images would just spring to life in my mind and my imagination would run wild. After I joined the Army in 1997, I spent a lot of time writing in notebooks and journals about my days in the field, or in one combat theater or another, during those down times when all you have is yourself and a pen. Over the years the military taught me the values of discipline, perseverance, leadership, service, and the importance of leaving something meaningful behind. Those principles for me have become not only a part of my military life, but the foundation of my journey as an author.