A sixth-generation Californian, K. Patrick Conner grew up in the Central Valley. He attended Chico State University, receiving his Bachelor’s degree in English in 1976 and his Master’s degree in English in 1977. In 1978, he was one of the winners of the San Francisco Foundation’s Joseph Henry Jackson Award, which recognizes promising young writers from Northern California. In 1987, Conner was hired by the San Francisco Chronicle. He worked at the newspaper for more than twenty years, including five years as City Editor. He is the author of three prior novels: “Blood Moon,” published by Doubleday in 1987; “Kingdom Road, published by Donald Fine, Inc. in 1991 and subsequently brought out as a paperback titled "Blind Obsession" by Signet in 1992; and "Dying Words," published by NaCl Press in 2012. He currently lives on San Francisco’s Russian Hill with his wife, Christine Cuccia, and their cats.