After high school I joined the Navy to see the world, most of which is covered by water as I subsequently learned, and became a naval aviator. After a tour as flight instructor in the advanced jet training command, I transitioned to the F-8 Crusader, deployed to the western Pacific aboard the USS Hancock and flew sixty-eight combat missions. I then earned a master’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering before transitioning to the F-4 Phantom. Most of my F-4 flying was aboard USS Independence in the Mediterranean, western Atlantic, and Caribbean. I attended the Navy’s Fighter Weapons School, commonly referred to “Top Gun,” and published two articles in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings magazine. I went to the US Naval War College’s command and staff program then transferred to the Naval Air Systems Command in Washington, DC to work on two weapon systems, one jointly with the Air Force, the other with the Air Force and Army. I then transferred to Sigonella, Sicily, flying VIPs throughout the Mediterranean littoral in T-39 Sabreliners. I finished my military career teaching aerodynamics at Navy’s Aviation Safety School in Monterey, California, and eventually returned to aviation to fly as first officer then as captain of Boeing 747s for Atlas Air, a cargo company in New York. Why is someone who spent his first career around the sea, his second flying over it, writing about an era that depended principally on land forces? While in Europe I visited many Roman ruins which profoundly influenced my decision to write a historical novel about the Roman Empire. Research led me to a father and son who became co-emperors almost by accident. The thirty-five-year-old son was told to keep barbarians out of the western half of the empire and guard against revolts by ambitious generals and governors, an all-to familiar occurrence since Augustus’s reign. How he managed internal and external threats while dealing with issues of trust and betrayals made his story resonate for me. I hope it will for you. \tI have three daughters, one son, and live with my wife, Pam, in Bedford, NH.