Although born in Waukegan, Illinois (same as literary icon Ray Bradbury), Sam A. Patel grew up in New Jersey. An avid collector of comic books and roll-playing games, he first joined the internet at the age of 14 when he ran a BBS on his Commodore 64 with a 300 baud modem. Later, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Miami, and a Master of Arts in Philosophy from New York University. In the time since, he has stress-tested data centers for the national election, taught English in Japan, managed email servers in Portland, Oregon, and built exhibition booths in Melbourne, Australia. Data Runner is his first series.