Norman Westhoff is a retired physician. The "Erebus Tales" trilogy ("Stone Fever," "The Color of Greed," and "Gifts of a Dark God") mark his first published fiction, and sprang from a lifetime of travel and immersion in different cultures on six continents. He earned a Public Health degree, and used it to help improve medical care in Dmitrov, Russia. He plays squeezebox instruments at traditional music sessions. He has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, trekked to Everest base camp, and hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain and France. He is active in a co-housing community in Lawrence KS. He and his late spouse have three children and five grandchildren, all avid readers.