Robert Grajewski

Robert Grajewski was born and raised in Chicago. He grew up as an only child (which helped to cultivate his writer's imagination)in a blue-collar family where both parents worked full-time to keep the small household afloat. Robert, who had less than a stellar high-school record, only discovered his love of learning while in junior college. He also discovered his love of reading, which gave birth to his love of writing.

Robert believes there are two books and authors in the life of every aspiring writer. One book will be so bad that the reader thinks, "I know I could do better than this." The other book is one so rich in texture and story that the reader is inspired to try his hand at the craft. For Robert, Stephen King's "The Stand" provided such inspiration. Robert says, "While reading 'The Stand' I stopped fantasizing about being one of the characters and began to imagine that I was the writer. From that point, I started reading novels with a highlighter in my hand. I read novels as if they were text books on how to write." Eventually he began writing "Golden Darkness," and 180,000 words later, his first novel was finished.

According to Robert, "You don't have to try to make yourself a writer. If you are, it's already in your blood. You just need to learn how to bleed creatively."

Robert currently resides in Southern California and is a professor in the College of Electrical Engineering at Southern California Institute of Technology. He is currently working on his next novel.