A former pilot, sarcophagus maker, and businessman, David W. Ball has traveled to seven continents and more than eighty countries, crossed the Sahara Desert four times in the course of researching his novel Empires of Sand, and explored the Andes in a Volkswagen bus. Research for The Sword and The Scimitar took him to Valetta, Istanbul, and Paris. He's driven a taxi in New York City, installed telecommunications equipment in Cameroon, renovated old Victorian houses in Denver, and pumped gasoline in the Grand Tetons. He lives with his family on a small farm in Colorado, where he is currently at work growing weeds and more tall tales.