Richard Allen

Richard (Rick) Allen was born in Sturgis, South Dakota more years ago than he is willing to count, of working class parents. The youngest of four children he enjoyed the life of a spoiled accidental birth. He was five years younger than his next sibling.

His education was quite normal for the first 12 years and then it began to get a little crazy. He was a so-so student in secondary school, but discovered he enjoyed learning in his early twenties. This resulted in his obtaining a rather diverse education from several universities and colleges around this land and more than a few trade schools learning everything from how to wire and plumb a house to programming in a couple of computer languages. He went on to deal poker in Las Vegas and rose to management positions during his 20 years in 'Sin City'. He has been quoted as saying that it is a wonderful place to visit but he wouldn't want to live there as it is today.

The book Cyborg in Cygnus began many years ago as a short story published in one of the popular 'sci fi' magazines of the time. To be honest I don't even remember the name of that publication, that is how long ago that was! I was contacted a time later by a publisher that wanted me to do a novel based on my short story. At the time I was not interested as I was busy in casino management in Las Vegas. I later retired and wanted to write. I started a couple of blogs and a political face book page as well as a web site that featured my op eds, but was not 'fulfilled'. I wanted to do a fiction piece. I rediscovered my earlier efforts at writing stores in a file on an old computer. This was one of those stories and I started writing. I had lost my touch over the years so it was an arduous trek getting it readable and to say what I wanted to say. I hope you enjoy the results.