Background? I could write a book ... But, seriously, I grew up with the bomb and polio as terrors waiting just over the horizon. At some point, the 1960s happened to me--which is to say that I discovered Pete Seegar, Cardinal Richlieu, James Bond, Dylan, the Space Race, and other elements of the times all at once. Played in rock bands, made abortive attempts to write worthwhile material (wasn't published until the 1970s), became a loner, and generally had bad and good times, pretty much like everyone else. Major influences? Too many, but a short list includes Robert A. Heinlein, Mary Alice (Andre) Norton, James Joyce, G. Harry Stine, Mack Reynolds, Larry Niven, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Sally Rand (yes, THAT one, the fan dancer), Burton G. Gabriel (a fine editor at S&S), Manly Wade Wellman, Keith Monroe, Jack Finney, Jules Verne, E.M. Forrester, and a bunch more. (I have been fortunate to have met most of those folks.)

Michael Banks is the author of more than 40 books (novels as well as non-fiction books), and some 2,000 magazine articles & short stories. He's also served as a freelance book aquisitions editor and fiction editor.

Forthcoming books: Web Psychos, Stalkers, and Pranksters (Summer, 2002, Cyberage Books) Working Without a Net (working title for a book on writing for a living, Fall, 2002, The Writer/Kalmbach) Internet Confidential (Summer, 2002, Sybex Books) Recent books: PC Confidential (Sybex) The Modem Reference (Cyberage) Second Stage: Advanced Model Rocketry (Kalmbach) ... and three dozen more nonfiction books and novels--nearly all are out of print.