Doug grew up in Chicago, which is not at all accurate, but people from Hammond, Indiana, where he really grew up, think they're from Chicago, as if Indiana is a Chicago suburb. In Vietnam during the war, Doug was exposed to Agent Orange. In 2006, he was diagnosed with a rare sarcoma, a cancer the Veteran's Administration has recently included in their list of maladies resulting from such exposure. He has been cancer free since 2007. He attended Parkland College where he was first published in the college literary annual. Subsequently, he attended the University of Illinois as a geology major. In 1991, Doug and his wife, Trish, moved to St. Paul, Minnesota. They have recently moved from their home in St. Paul to a cabin on a tranquil, Minnesota wilderness lake in the Chippewa National Forest- though the winter months will find them closer to the equator. Two miles through the woods from their home in northern Minnesota, stand the ruins of the camp that was the inspiration for the Big Bear Lake POW Camp in the novel, "Telegram." Doug and Trish enjoy nothing better than looking out over the lake from their porch swing and savoring the rich, historical flavors that mingle with the pine-scented air. Doug is currently at work on his next novel set in the wilderness town of Deer River, Minnesota at the turn of the 20th century.