James H. Horton started out life on the banks of the Mississippi River in Iowa but soon moved west, growing up in New Mexico and California’s Gold Rush territory before settling down near the end of the Oregon Trail.

A teacher, musician, songwriter, poet and author of numerous short stories, he’s the author of the Goldrock western series (Goldrock, Saddleback Mine and Rapturia), the spy thriller The Heart of Darkness Code and BLACKOUT!, a short novel that envisions the world of modern civilization when the lights suddenly go out…