Duane DeMello
Duane DeMello was born in Oakland, California, but grew up in Shive, Texas and always considered himself a Texan. He received his B.A. and his M.A. from the University of North Texas. DeMello served in the U.S. Air Force, owned a newspaper, and worked for two major Fortune 500 corporations before giving up the corporate life to do what he loved best, writing.
In Texas, he absorbed most of the material to write two novels, The Denton Mare and Texas Gothics. After he moved to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University, DeMello took in enough sunshine to write Mystic Florida. In addition to numerous short stories and two plays, his other novels include Headshots, Lay Me Down, and Hypertext. The Denton Mare won the Houston Area Booksellers Award, and DeMello was later named one of eight finalists for the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize.