Brent Gill

Brent Gill was born in 1944 and lives in the foothills of Central California on the hilltop to which he was brought home from the hospital. He was raised on a cattle ranch, where he rode horses, worked cattle, fed hay and fixed fence. He was a voracious reader as a youth, and has always loved books. He married Sharon, his high school sweetheart, over 50 years ago. They met in summer band, weeks before her first day of high school. She was directed to sit in the chair next to his, and he says, "The rest is grandkids." They have three married sons and 8 grandchildren. He was an Aviation Electronics Technician in the US Coast Guard for 4 years. He taught high school in Porterville for over 10 years, and worked as a part time radio announcer for 22 years, Currently, during the summer months, he is a contract driver for the US Forest Service, and CalFire, hauling all manner of things to support firefighters on the line. He attends a weekly professional writers group and credits their help and critique for teaching him the finer points of the craft of writing. Currently, he pens a weekly column for the local newspaper, writing about Sharon's and his interaction with the animals he raises on their small ranch in the Sierra Nevada foothills. He's been a friend of Bill W. since 1989. In 1956, his father woke him in the middle of the night to accompany him up the side of Black Mountain. He needed help taking firefighters to find a smoldering tree before sunrise. Thus, the seed of the story "Fire on Black Mountain" was planted. With his first book published, a sequel needed to be done. Thus, "Snow on Black Mountain" was written, relating typical problems any rancher would have gathering cattle "on the mountain" before a major storm. But when that rancher is a 12-year-old-boy, the problems become serious, and exciting.