<b>R. Karl Largent</b>, a.k.a. <b>Robin Karl</b> or <b>Simon Lawrence</b>, is an author, lecturer, and columnist who teaches writing at Tri-State University. Before launching his writing career, he spent 30 years in industry, the last 17 as VP of Marketing for a Fortune 500 multinational. A former horse show judge and trainer of youth horses, he competed in SCCA road racing events, flew as a weather observer in the USAF, completed a tour of duty in the Arctic and served with the U.S. Weather Bureau.<br/>R. Karl Largent is the author of over 600 columns. He has also authored nearly two dozen novels including the bestselling <i>"Red"</i> series. He has also written six non-fiction books as well as numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and other publications.