About the Author

I started writing Einstein's Trunk while I was still working my day job as a competitive analyst for the computer company HP in Zurich, Switzerland. My job at the time required me to do a lot of writing, and I knew I would miss that creative outlet when I retired. 

A bit strangely, I came up with the title of the book and developed the plot from there. I thought to myself that people love a mystery and the name Einstein has lots of cache - so voila - Einstein's Trunk. From there, the plot just sort of unfolded itself naturally. 

My main character, Rulon Hurt, was a composite of Dan Blocker's character Hoss Cartwright in the TV series Bonanza, and Rulon Gardner, an Olympic Greco-Roman wrestler from Idaho.  I liked the name Rulon, though very few others who originally read my book did. My wonderful editor, Margaret Pattison, thought it sounded like the hero in a science fiction fantasy novel.! To me the name just fit - and one of the perks of writing a book is to be able to name the characters. To me the name suggests someone you might underestimate, but in the case of Hoss Cartwright, Rulon Gardner, and Rulon Hurt, that would be a big mistake.