Erik Lickerman

Author Biography

I truly do not understand the need or desire for an author biography. Does one need to know about the author in order to enjoy or interpret the book? Several people including my brother (also a published author) insist the answer is yes and that if one enjoys the book he will naturally want to know more about the author than his name. The whole business strikes me as immodest and, in my case dull, but here it is. I am a middle aged man who lives alone in a very nice, though not large, house in the San Fernando Valley. I have no wife or kids (my excuse being that I spent most of my prime reproductive years varying smoothly between obese and morbidly obese before finally getting it under control in my forties. Also I am highly abnormal). I have a 200 pound dog with a mellow personality who is beloved in the neighborhood and I have tried to pick up social skills from him.

I started writing fiction late in life. Until recently I considered myself primarily a science nerd. I studied molecular biology as an undergraduate at M.I.T and I have an M.D from the University of Illinois. My residency was in anatomic and clinical pathology but I have never practiced, instead making my living at the intersection of information technology and healthcare as a Medical Informatician. I have two failed startups under my belt and am a pretty darn good programmer if I do say so myself. And to be clear—I do.

What else? I can sing and strum a guitar while I do so as long as the chords are simple. I have a band. We practice at my house on Sundays and are usually looking for a keyboard player. If you live in the valley and play keys drop me a line (but be sure to begin with a statement about how brilliant you found my novel). I write songs. I train judo and some kind of kicking and punching system, not quite Muay Thai and not quite Kyokushin—but you know, it hurts.

I'm a pretty good cook for an amateur and every so often I throw a BBQ here with smoked brisket and sides and it makes people happy.

Have thoughts about the book? Loved it, hated it, want to tell me about your grandmother's matzo balls? Email me.