Michael E. Marks

Most people dream of seeing the world and traveling to strange, exotic places. I've had the good fortune to do so, if admittedly offset somewhat by seeing most of these places in the worst of times. That trip meandered through the jungles of Nicaragua in '86 to the rocky mountains of Afghanistan in 2011-12, with stops in Africa, Russia and the Middle East along the way. A lifetime spent in the defense and intel communities led to the unique opportunity to work with the creators of the Predator drone program to produce “Never Mind, We’ll Do It Ourselves.” It has been the honor of a lifetime to meet the patriots, cowboys and mad scientists who changed the face of aerial warfare and sparked today’s robotics revolution. In way of background, I’ve always been a protector at heart, the guy who stops for broken down cars and rescues dogs from bad situations. (The latter habit included a heavily-armed rescue of a dog in Afghanistan; that was a great story.) Helping others stay safe is in my blood, and drew me to write professional books for emergency responders; titles that have been adopted at places like the FBI Academy and the US Army Hazardous Devices School. I had the unique honor to serve as an adjunct professor on WMD at the George Washington University College of Forensic Science. As serious as all that might sound, it sits alongside a love affair with science fiction that began in 6th grade when I was caught in math class scribbling madly through my first sci-fi short story. Finding myself hauled to the front of class to read it aloud, the "sentence" unanimously imposed by the class was that I had to finish it and return to read the ending! It was a great many years before Dominant Species came about, driven largely by threats from friends and family alike if I didn't "write a damn novel." Encouragement, it seems, comes in many forms. But write it I did, and the response to the book was overwhelming. Best of all, it gave me a sincerely wonderful opportunity to meet a veritable horde of gracious readers and bloggers around the world. You guys are the rock stars. Brace For Impact arose as the oft-requested sequel to my Emergency Responder’s Guide to Terrorism, focused on the seemingly endless spiral of violence and breakdown in our society. Unlike prior titles I wrote for professionals in the field, BFI was written for the average citizen. And unlike the daily news, it is not about sensationalism or politics. It presents a clean, clear look at how to better recognize and understand the hazards we face, and what we can do to avoid or evade them. At the end of the day, most people would rather avoid a fight than have to win one. I firmly agree. My latest project is Never Mind, We’ll Do It Ourselves, a remarkable real-life story of the amazing people who created the Predator drone program. It was an honor to be trusted with their story. It had to be reviewed by the CIA, which promptly slapped a “classified” label on it and fought to make us destroy it for four years before our lawyer prevailed. As corny as it might sound, this really is the book the CIA doesn’t want you to read.