Alan E. Sparks is the award-winning author of Dreaming of Wolves and Into the Carpathians, and has written articles about wolves for International Wolf Magazine and other publications. A voracious student of the natural and cultural histories of the places he visits, Alan has supplemented his indoor studies with training in mountaineering, expedition leadership, and winter ecology/animal tracking from the Colorado Mountain Club, the National Outdoor Leadership School, and renowned animal tracker Dr. James Halfpenny. As a teacher of English as a second language, commercial actor, and web designer—and as an avid hiker, backcountry skier, animal tracker—he has lived, worked, and trekked extensively in the Carpathian Mountain region of Central and Eastern Europe.