<b>William Hertling</b> is the author of the award-winning <i>Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears, A.I. Apocalypse</i>, and <i>The Last Firewall</i>. His near-term science-fiction novels about realistic ways strong AI might emerge have been called "frighteningly plausible", "tremendous", and "must read".<br/>He's been influenced by writers such as William Gibson, Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, and Walter Jon Williams.<br/>William Hertling was born in Brooklyn, New York. He grew up a digital native in the early days of bulletin board systems. His first experiences with net culture occurred when he wired seven phone lines into the back of his Apple //e, creating an online chat system.<br/>He currently resides in Portland, Oregon. By day he works on web and social media for HP. Follow him on twitter at @hertling or visit his blog williamhertling.com.