About the Author

Doyle Shawn Carpenter was born about as far from the sea as possible, unless "amber waves of grain" count as some sort of cereal analog for the briny blue. After a lifetime spent on the plains of Oklahoma and in the mountains of Colorado, he moved to Seattle, where he caught his first glimpse of the sea and a ketch under sail - the infection was instant and irreversible.

His interest shifted from medieval history to nautical history, particularly that of the high Age of Sail - those tumultuous years when Britain's navy struggled to maintain hegemony in the face of a world torn by revolutions and the ambitions of Emperors. As a long time fantasy literature enthusiast, it was only natural that he began to wonder what warfare in the age of sail would have been like if Cochrane or Pellew had ship's sorcerers numbered among their officers . . . and thus was born Enid d'Tancreville, the fiery expatriate Ardain sorceress and her friend, the equally bellicose Albion Post Captain, Rue Nath.

Shawn is currently employed as a Subject Matter Expert for a software company specializing in public safety and law enforcement solutions. He is the proud father of three beautiful girls and recently began a lifelong habit of doting over his first grandson, Seth. After years in Seattle and Baltimore, he has returned to his home town of Enid, Oklahoma where he lives in a rambling, century old home with his wife, Peggy.

Shawn's home, Peggy assures us, is not the only thing in Oklahoma that rambles.