Christopher E. Cancilla, Chris, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the East Side, in an area known as Collinwood, near East 158th and St. Clair. He enjoyed growing up there and would not trade it for anything. His friendships in elementary school, Holy Redeemer, and in High School at Borromeo and St. Joseph (now called Villa Angela – St. Joseph’s) are priceless, and some of those friendships are still in force. He worked most of his youth in the family business, DiLillo Brothers Dry Cleaners, for his grandfather (Carmen) and at DiLillo Brothers Men’s Wear, where he worked for his Uncle Tony (known as Czar).In his youth, he also enjoyed Scouting. Spending a significant portion of it with the Cub and Boy Scouts influenced his life positively. The ideals of Scouting – the Oath and Law – served him as he entered the world of the adult, and even today, they act as a moral compass, guiding his actions to be the man his family is proud of in all aspects of his life.After spending just over 14 years in the US Air Force, he saw a relatively large chunk of this 3rd stone from the Sun. During his Air Force career as a Munitions Specialist and a PMEL (Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory) technician, his favorite assignment was to Denver, Colorado, where he was able to camp in the Rocky Mountains. A close second is the two years he was assigned to Keflavik, Iceland, a place where he and his new wife Tammy became the best of friends.His wife Tammy, daughter Allison, and son Gregory all live in Raleigh, NC. Recently, he lost his muse—his cat of 17 years, Snip. He was always present when he was writing, and the instructor taught him the reason you need to save your work often. For some reason, relaxing on the keyboard was his favorite pastime, and several times, he attempted to rewrite the story on the screen.Scouting is still a massive part of his life, especially teaching new adults the skills needed to survive in the great outdoors and reinforce how they need to be trained to be the leaders of tomorrow. Camping is a great way to decompress and gain insight into what is hidden in the mind's inner recesses. Nature clarifies everything, even when you spend all night arguing with a 50-pound raccoon over the leftover cobbler in the Dutch Oven, the same Dutch Oven you said you would clean up in the morning. To that end, he took on the role of Scoutmaster for the troop at his church. Life as a Scoutmaster differs significantly from life as an Assistant Scoutmaster; people expect you to act like an adult. Oh well, too bad! After a few years, he stepped aside and let someone else fill the Scoutmaster role, but he still wanted to be involved in Scouting. So, he became a Unit Commissioner, helping Packs and Troops succeed, learn, and grow. He also attended the Wood Badge course in 2006 and was honored to be asked to be on staff for a course. He was the Eagle Troop Guide, guiding the patrol and the participants in learning and growing. This is where his passion is.....His hobbies include amateur radio, and he enjoys teaching technical and general classes to people looking to learn more about radio communications. He has also become a part of the Laurel VEC, an organization sanctioned by the FCC to provide Amateur Radio exams to the general public. He chose Laurel because the exams for the participants are free of charge! Recently, he started learning DMR (Digital Mobile Radio). If you are an amateur operator with a DMR radio, call W4CEC on the TGIF network, Talk Group 1870; he will most likely hear it and answer you.His day job is as an EDI B2B Integration Specialist or an EDI Business Developer. Take your pick; they both mean the same thing. A fancy way to tell someone you work with computers to translate data from one format to another. He calls himself a digital mailman. He moves the data and information files from one place to another but does not own or is not responsible for the data in any way. So, a mailman! After all – the mailman doesn’t write the letters, only moves them from point A to point B.Overall, he enjoys the same things most people do: watching good TV programs, walking through the mall hand in hand with his wife, and taking the occasional vacation to exciting places. But sitting at the keyboard is just as much fun. His 35+ books can provide reading entertainment for almost anyone.Check out his website at AuthorCancilla dot comFrom there you can subscribe to his blog for weekly emails of exciting things from his mindRead more about this authorRead less about this author