Passionate about writing, food and travel, his love of adventure led Joel to hitchhike from Kenya to South Africa, whitewater-raft the Zambezi River, canoe the Okavango Delta, explore the Ngorongoro Crater, climb Mt.Kilimanjaro, and hike the Chimanimani Mountains. The thrill and terror of those first-hand experiences are brought to life in Lot's own adventures.

Joel began his career as a government bureaucrat and erstwhile journalist and is now making amends to society as a starving author. He shares his non-existent garden in Tennessee with endless hordes of mosquitoes, a family of psychotic squirrels, three jack rabbits, a ravenous herd of deer and an elusive mole named Darwin.