Dorien Grey started out as a pen name, nothing more, for
a lifelong book and magazine editor who wanted to write his
own novels as a bridge between the gay and straight
communities. However, because he was living in a remote
and time-warped area of the upper Midwest where gays still
feel it necessary to keep a very low profile, he did not feel
comfortable using his own name-a sad commentary on our
society, he admits.

But as his first book, a detective novel, led to the second
and then the third, he found Dorien slowly became much
more than a pseudonym, evolving into an alter ego.

"It's reached the point," he says, "where all I have to do is
sit down at the computer and let Dorien tell the story."

As for the Dorien's "real person," he's had a not-
uninteresting life. Two years into college, he left to join the
Naval Aviation Cadet program-he washed out and spent the
rest of his brief military career on an aircraft carrier in the
Mediterranean. The journal he kept of his time in the military,
in the form of letters home, honed his writing skills and
provided him with a wealth of experiences to draw from in his
future writing.

Returning to college after service, he graduated with a BA
in English and embarked on a series of jobs that led him into
the editing field. While working for a Los Angeles publishing
house, he was instrumental in establishing a division
exclusively for the publication of gay paperbacks and magazines,
of which he became editor. He moved on to edit a
leading LA-based international gay men's magazine.

Tiring of earthquakes, brush fires, mudslides and riots, he
returned to the Midwest, where Dorien emerged, full-blown,
like Athena from the head of Zeus.

He-and Dorien, of course-recently moved to Chicago,
and now devote their energies to writing. After having
completed ten books in the popular Dick Hardesty Mystery
series, and now Calico, a Western historical romantic
suspense, they are currently working on a new mystery with
a new protagonist, which may have the potential to become a
series.

"Too early to tell," Dorien says. "But stay tuned."

But for a greater insight into the real person behind Dorien
Grey, the curious are invited to read The Poems of Dorien
Grey, an ebook available from GLB Publishers.