
Donald Firesmith is a multi-award-winning author of speculative fiction, including science fiction, fantasy, paranormal horror, and modern urban paranormal novels and collections of short stories. Because of his strong background in software/system engineering and science, his science fiction is well-researched, and he relies on numerous science, technology, and military technical advisors to ensure that the non-speculative aspects of his stories are realistic and believable.
Prior to retiring to become a full-time novelist and short story author, Donald Firesmith earned an international reputation as an authority on system and software engineering, authoring engineering books and nearly 300 technical articles and conference papers based on his 40+ years spent developing large, complex software-intensive systems. In 2015, the Association for Computing Machinery named Donald Firesmith an ACM Distinguished Member.
Donald Firesmith is also a maker of fine, one-of-a-kind, traditional, hand-crafted magic wands of mystical woods and gemstones. He even wrote the book on the subject, Magical Wands: A Cornucopia of Wand Lore.
He lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with his wife Becky, and varying numbers of dogs and cats.