Edwin Stanfield of Frederick, Maryland, is a 27 year veteran of the Air National Guard - 16 of them as a flying crew chief - which is a polite way of saying he has worked on a lot of aircraft in places most people would prefer not to visit. His deployments in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and the Global War on Terrorism gave him an education no MFA program offers: what it actually feels like to live, work, and unravel alongside the same small group of people while working to complete a mission. That experience is the beating heart of his fiction. His debut novel, Charlie Five Alpha, set during Afghan surge operations, was published in 2023. Peripheral, a novel following a group of veterans reuniting for a bachelor party, published in 2026 is his second. Stanfield writes because he wants others to gain an understanding of military service beyond what is typically portrayed in popular culture. He hopes to offer a glimpse into the world of those who serve - the friendships, the strain, the cost, and the aftermath. His work aims to bring to our society together by helping people understand culturally different groups with whom they don't typically interact.