Keith Yocum was born in Ridgecrest, California, the civilian town supporting the China Lake Naval Weapons Center in the Mojave Desert. His father, an electrician and former WWII submariner, married an Australian nurse he met in a military hospital during the war. Keith lived overseas for most of his youth, including the Panama Canal Zone and Australia.

He held many odd jobs during his life including managing a drive-inn theater concession stand, working in an Outback cement factory, driving and delivering meals to commercial aircraft at Dulles Airport, working as a clerk for the US Postal Service, editor of several weekly newspapers and a sales executive.

Keith received a BA in Philosophy from George Mason University in Fairfax, VA, and a Master's Degree in Public Affairs Journalism from American University in Washington, D.C. He has worked as a reporter, editor and founder of a weekly newspaper. He worked at The Boston Globe in a variety of jobs over 11 years including copyeditor and strategic planner, and worked at The New England Journal of Medicine as a sales director for 13 years.

He has published two novels independently, one of them -- "Daniel" -- was a semifinalist in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. His third novel "Color of Blood" was published by Kindle Press.