Mark Lashway was born and raised in the Adirondack Mountains region of northern New York, where he still lives today. A journalism major in college, he has written pieces on various subjects throughout the years before writing his first novel. In addition, he has served as an instructor in a wide variety of fields, from English Composition to skydiving first-jump courses to training courses for correction officers. Taking an interest in homebrewing shortly after graduating college, he continues in this endeavor today and used the field as the backdrop to his novel "Tapped Out."