**G. D. Penman** is the author of more books than you can shake a reasonable-size stick at. Before finally realizing that his guidance counselor had lied about one’s not being able to make a living as an author, Penman worked as an editor, tabletop game designer, and literally every awful demeaning job that you can think of in between. Nowadays, he can mostly be found smoking a pipe in the sunshine and pretending that deadlines aren’t lurking behind him with a club. He lives in Dundee, Scotland, with his menagerie.