Mystic Publishers Employee Bios: RICHARD DRAUDE, DIRECTOR of GRAPHICS & IT

My first dabble into writing happened in the fifth grade. While riding the school bus, I heard my classmates talking about their book reports. I realized I’d ignored the assignment and was in a lot of trouble. Arriving on the playground I pulled out my binder and penned a fictional book report about a set of twins and called the fictitious book Double Trouble. I added a couple of short paragraphs about the problems they created and handed it in. I don’t remember the grade, but I did complete the assignment.

By eighth grade I was deep into the Hardy Boys. I never read the entire series, having a mild form of Dyslexia, (discovered later in my life, the main reason I did things backwards) Also I probably would have fit today’s definition of a child with ADD. Never-the-less I finished high school. My stint in the Navy was my first contact with Science fiction, E.E. ‘Doc’ Smith’s Skylark series. I devoured it and a lot of other book in the same genre. I also kept up with my love of mysteries. Another series I followed is the Travis McGee series, John D. McDonald.

In 1991 when Jo Wilkins approached me with the idea of co-authoring a science fiction book, I jumped at the chance. (I had to relearn how to write properly, but I did, with a lot of help. We’ve reissued our first book after a complete rewrite. The first book in my new series The MacKenna Saga is out. The second is due to be released in November.