Richard Cartwright was born and raised in Tennessee when he was not bouncing around the country and Canada in the sleeper of his parents tractor trailer rig  that his father bought after retiring from the Navy to go into trucking.

His first reading lessons were road signs at four. His education was disrupted at five when he was forced to start spending the school year at school. After acquiring a note at six to allow him to check out "advanced " books from the library, he discovered Heinlein and never looked back. Along the way he acquired degrees in history, law, and cynicism. 

He learned the fine art of storytelling sitting around kitchen tables, campfires and courtrooms over the years but came to writing later in life after getting out of the legal profession while he could still get his soul back.

These days he managers a remote support team which lets him feed his writing habit.