Robert Walton is retired after teaching for thirty-six years. A lifelong rock climber and mountaineer, he says, “My home crags are in Pinnacles National Park, where I’ve made many first ascents, and I’ve also climbed extensively in Yosemite and the Sierras.” Robert is the author of Dawn Drums, a Civil War novel which took first place in the 2014 Arizona Authors Association’s literary contest and won the New Mexico Book Awards Tony Hillerman Prize for Best Fiction. Robert lives in King City, California; learn more about him at  http://chaosgatebook.wordpress.com/.