Robert Lowe

I spent the first decade out of college as a newspaper reporter, first covering government meetings and the day-to-day events of a city: fires, murders, riots, elections, earthquakes.

After a couple of years, I discovered I had a knack for investigative reporting. Once I spent several weeks in the heat and dust of rural Arizona searching for poor women who had been forced by government doctors to be sterilized in order to receive hospital care. It was a home-grown form of welfare reform.

Another time, I spent months looking into the local college sports program. When my partner and I found coaches had diverted state money for their personal use and for under-the-table payments to athletes, we were falsely accused of burglarizing their offices to get the information.

I investigated corrupt politicians, polluters and corporations that valued profits over the safety of their workers and customers.

Eventually, I moved on. I changed careers, went to law school, spent a few years as a corporate lawyer and then jumped into the crazy high-tech world of Silicon Valley.

But a part of me never left the world of journalism. Whether sitting in a room full of venture capitalists or perusing the latest news in the newspapers that landed on my doorstep every day, I imagined what was happening behind the scene of whatever I was witnessing - the hidden machinations in the bowels of the machine. And I remembered the days when, as a 22-year-old, I might interview a governor, bank president and Nobel laureate in the morning. And then, spend the afternoon in a jail cell talking to convicted murderers or sharing a beer with the mistress of a disgraced politician.

Like all authors, I draw heavily on my life to create the stories in my book. It's particularly fun for me to relive those early journalism years through Enzo Lee and enjoy the neighborhoods, characters and wonderful food of the San Francisco area - my adopted home. And I have a chance, again, to take on - even if just in fiction - the people and institutions that get ahead by abusing their power and the public's trust.

We all need our windmills.

I'm happy to hear from readers and other authors. I can be reached at robert@robertblowe.com My website is www.robertblowe.com