D.C. McKay

With the exception of being a father (maybe), writing is my first, best destiny.

I've wanted to be a science fiction writer ever since I can remember. I made my first serious attempts at story writing when I was 10 or 11 years old, and one of the stories (The Gallant Force) was the embryonic beginning of my first published book decades later, Ships & Stones. Like Ships & Stones, The Gallant Force is based in the early years of Solar System colonization.

I got my BS in Mathematics from the Naval Academy, and absolutely loved being in the Navy. In fact, if I'd never married or had kids, I would have retired from the Navy, and then gone out to sea on my own boat. I believe my love of ships and being underway is evident in my book, as Captains and their space ships are central to the story.

With the Ship & Stones series, I want to explore interplanetary commerce, the physics behind space travel, and the rudiments of space warfare in a Newtonian setting. There are certainly plenty of outstanding sci-fi books that rely on more advanced technology, but I wanted to focus on a future with technology that one could at least see from today's world. This pleasantly challenges me with certain limits on where the plots can go, and forces me to be realistically creative within the world I've created.

I've got a beautiful wife and four great kids. I've been blessed to be extremely active in all their lives, coaching or mentoring all of them as they've grown. There's never a dull moment in our household, and I wouldn't have it any other way. My two oldest have just left for college, and I know I'm going to have a huge adjustment ahead of me as I decouple myself and allow them to live their own lives.

I'm already working on the sequel to Ships & Stones. I intend to publish Moore Trouble by the middle of February.

Check out my website: http://www.dcmckay.net

and my blog: http://www.dcmckay.net/SuddenStrike

for more info!