About Me
My Work
My name is Bryan Nowak, the author of the books The Dramatic Dead, The Reverent Dead, Riapoke, The App, Code Name: Formula 12, Crimson Tassels, The Bagorian Chronicles, Usurpers Throne, and the Dean Cordaine Mysteries.
My Philosophy on Writing
I generally prefer paranormal thrillers, but I am not necessarily a purist. I like a good solid mystery to go along with it to keep you turning the pages or flicking the screen of your e-reader. I prefer a story line that doesn’t ooze blood, but I want it saturated in tension and dread. I’m a firm believer that if I can entertain you while scaring you a little, I have done my job.
My Journey
I grew up in Steger, Illinois, a south suburb of Chicago and spent lots of summers in Indiana. Many of my relatives still live in the Midwest and it’s a frequent destination for summer vacations.
I was born in the summer of 1973. I had the good fortune of attending Eastview Elementary School. There I learned the value of a good library through our local librarian. Exhausting the library of ghost stories, and tales of monsters, I re-read some of my favorites. One in particular I remember was the tale of the restless spirits of dead pirates. It was supposedly a true story. Years later, after the advent of the internet, I would find out that the story was well known, and the location of the story is presently a bed and breakfast in South Carolina. Reading those stories gave me a firm foundation of suspense in the paranormal.
Having moved to Minnesota as a teenager, I joined the US Army Reserves and the National Guard. I am a proud veteran of seventeen years. I went to college in Minnesota and met my wife there. Our first son was born in Minnesota. It’s safe to say that I will always have a soft spot in my life for the state that I once called home.
It was during my time in the U.S. Army that I was ordered to the state of Virginia, to fill in with an active duty unit who needed some extra help. Returning to that same unit over the next three summers, I learned to really love the state of Virginia. Many years later, my wife and I moved our family here.
-Your Humble Servant,
Bryan the Writer