David E. Drum

As a young boy growing up on the Great Plains, books were my teachers, my friends, and my tickets to adventure. I spent many happy hours learning about the world through books that my mother, an avid reader, often passed along to me, or books I found for myself in our local public library. I treasure the ability of books to hold and convey knowledge, and their crucial role in advancing human civilization.

The newest of my three novels is Final Warning: Return of the Neanderthals, a zany scifi thriller featuring a technology gone wild and efforts to save the planet. Heathcliff: The Lost Years is a sweeping Gothic historical romance based on Wuthering Heights. It's the story of a passionate young Englishman haunted and driven by memories of his first love, and the astounding globe-spanning adventures he undertakes in his epic struggle to better himself and return home. I love a good heartfelt laugh, and I'm also the author of a comic novel, Introducing the Richest Family in America.

As an independent writer, I have been a newspaper reporter, an advertising copywriter, and a contributing editor and correspondent for major newspapers, national trade magazines and wire services. I've worked several colorful jobs, including stints as a craps dealer, a ranch foreman, an inner-city schoolteacher, a hot tamale vendor, a funeral director, and an encyclopedia salesman. Hopefully, my diverse life experience adds empathy and emotional depth to my writing.

I've been interested in good health for many years, so perhaps it follows that I'd begin my book-writing career by writing nonfiction books in that area. In researching health issues such as chronic pain, chemotherapy treatment, and diabetes, I have interviewed many people coping with chronic illness. I always emerge from these interviews impressed by the thoughtfulness and courage that these special men and women exhibit when facing adversity. Human dignity is a beautiful thing to hear and write about, and health is an interesting metaphor for life.

Altogether, I am the author or co-author of three novels, eight health books, several artist's books, and one book of poems. As an independent writer, I've produced more than a thousand magazine articles, speeches, brochures, corporate videos, tapes, and other writing projects.

I earned an A.A. from Brevard College, a B.A. from the University of California at Riverside, and an M.F.A. from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. I was president of the Independent Writers of Southern California for two years, and I have won some writing awards.