Richard Davis

It was while reading Fleming and Tolkien by flashlight under the covers that I first knew I wanted to be a writer. Flunking fourth grade put a hitch in my plans. Somehow I still graduated from Columbia with an English degree, summa cum laude no less, but that probably says more about Columbia than it does about me.

Ten years in Los Angeles writing screenplays for producers who did the flunking part but never graduated left me jaded. But that's when it all came together: think James Bond, but he rides a horse, carries a sword, and serves a king. Way better than any screenplay. That idea became King's Dark Blade, my flagship series following royal assassin Killian Lord. It's not my only world—the Rebel Slave Saga came first—but it's the one closest to my heart.

As for me, I've lived in Paris and Florence, which probably explains why I can't speak French without moving my hands. I can cook a mean steak roquefort and pair it with a pinot noir, and I can field-strip an AR faster than I can open that bottle. My sword collection includes a zweihander, a gladius, and a sica, because you never know when you might have to dice a really big cabbage.

Nowadays I live a much quieter life than Killian Lord, though between my blades, my guns, and my BJJ blue belt, I can hold my own.

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