Tom Vandermolen started out life as a military brat, born in Japan to a US Navy sailor and a Japanese mother, but raised primarily in the American South. A childhood of books, comics, movies, excellent English grades, and mediocre math grades resulted in a collection of short-story rejections and, inexplicably, a physics degree. After college, what should have been a short enlistment as a nuclear submarine officer somehow became a twenty-two-year career as a Navy intelligence officer. No one is sure how any of this happened.

Now retired from the military and working as a data scientist, Tom lives in Seattle with his wife, Yvette, who is always his first reader (and editor).