Myke Cole is an American author of fantasy, science fiction, and non-fiction. His series include the Shadow Ops, Reawakening, and Sacred Throne series. His career also involves television, having appeared on the CBS reality show Hunted and on the Discovery Channel series Contact. His debut novel, Shadow Ops: Control Point won the 2013 Compton Crook Award. Early life Cole is of Jewish heritage and grew up outside New York City where his father was a professor at New York City College. Cole attended undergrad at the University of Buffalo with fellow writer Peter V Brett. He also holds a Masters Degree in Museum Studies. He’s a former kendo and SCA fighter. His first career was in IT management for government agencies. Following the attacks on 9/11 he pivoted into a career in intelligence. Working as a private contractor and then for the Defense Intelligence Agency he did three tours in Iraq. This work earned him the Secretary of Defense Global War on Terrorism Medal and a Joint Service Commendation Medal. Following that work he took a position with the Office of Naval Intelligence. Later on, he was commissioned in the US Coast Guard Reserve and served as a Lieutenant in New York City where he worked law enforcement and search-and-rescue boat operations. His work with the Coast Guard included working as a responder to Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Hurricane Irene. Cole later worked with the NYPD as part of a defensive cyber unit focused on protecting the department from hackers. Career Cole’s first professional breakthrough in his writing career came in 2003 when his short story Blood And Horses won third prize in the Writers of the Future contest, with his story published in volume XIX of the anthology. He then published several short stories in magazines and anthologies including Weird Tales, where he went on to be a submission screener. His first publishing deal came in 2012 with his debut novel, Shadow Ops: Control Point published by Ace Books which won the 2013 Compton Crook Award. The series straddles genres incorporating elements of urban fantasy and military fantasy. He has said it took him 15 years of writing nights and weekends to finish it. The next two books in the series were published in as many years before the premiere in 2015 of The Reawakening Trilogy, a prequel set in the same universe as Shadow Ops. Installments of