T E Willis

Taun Eric Willis is a noted author, educator, and computer scientist. He sits at the nexus of literature, education, and technology, authoring gripping fictional narratives and meaningful, purpose-driven non-fiction.

Willis was born in Arizona and spent his early years learning to appreciate the conflicting beauty that is the American Sonoran Desert. As a boy, he chased “water dog” salamanders in the Salt River basin, camped with friends in the Tonto National Forest, and gazed at Halley’s comet from a remote desert trail beneath a sky crowded with stars.

He took an early interest in computers. At the age of 10 he was caught hacking into the mainframe of an internationally-known cell phone manufacturer in order to utilize their code compiler. He learned from his mistake… that is to say… he learned how he had been discovered, and was not caught again.

On the first day of his high school computer class, Willis informed his teacher that he had already finished the textbook. He tested out of the class that afternoon and, with the teacher and 4 senior students, chartered the school’s first advanced computer programming class.

Willis lived in Japan for years. He cooked rice crackers inside a cave in the mountains above the Tenmangū shrine with a group of Shinto priests. He was also treated to a private tour of the Mazda automobile plant while masquerading as an American auto executive. Willis speaks Japanese and maintains a love for the Japanese people and culture to this day.

For more than 30 years, Willis has developed software systems for some of the world’s most notable companies and government entities. He is a expert cryptographer, has patented authentication processes, and was interviewed by a United States congressional committee on the topic of cybersecurity.

From an early age, Willis was influenced by the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, James Clavell, Robert A. Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Lloyd Alexander, Anne McCaffrey, and Ray Bradbury.

“How to Build a Time Machine” was Willis’ first novel and has been described as an "interesting blend of Arthur C. Clarke and Tom Clancy”. Willis continued the book's incredible premise with a companion novel, "John J. Clifton, Temporal Specialist". In 2021 Willis released "Elle, Temporal Enforcement Officer", the third book in The Temporal Series. Willis is presently working on a fourth book targeted for release in late 2024.

Willis is married with five children and is reportedly constructing an EPM singularity device in his basement disguised as a sno-cone machine.