HOWARD ALAN PELL received his B.A. in English and his law degree from the University of Florida.  He retired from the Army with the rank of Colonel after a thirty-year career, active duty and reserve.  He retired as an attorney with the State of North Carolina after a twenty-five-year career.

In the Judge Advocate General's Corps, he served as a prosecutor; defense appellate attorney; administrative law officer; commissioner (law clerk) for the Army's appellate court; and was the designated legal counsel to a Special Forces Group commander and a Major General commanding a Reserve division.  He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and his awards include the Legion of Merit.

Mr. Pell was a Special Deputy Attorney General with the North Carolina Department of Justice, representing the State in criminal appellate litigation in State and federal courts, including oral argument before the N.C. Supreme Court. After ten years with the NCDOJ, he went to the N.C. General Assembly and served as a committee counsel for House and Senate Judiciary committees. He also drafted criminal law statutes and provided legal counsel to legislators on criminal justice issues. From 2000 to 2008, he was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the College of Law, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mr. Pell has publications in several legal journals and periodicals, including the Florida Bar Journal and the Natural Resources Journal. The War Within is his first novel.