Derrick Tribble comes from a family with a long and proud history in publishing. His great-great-great-grandfather Myron Reed was founder, editor-in-chief and publisher for a small town newspaper. Reed poured his life into this work, and when he died, his family used the typesetting stone from the office as the memorial atop his grave.

Several descendants of Reed also pursued careers in publishing: Derrick’s great-grandfather was in the newspaper business (publisher), and his grandfather (typesetter), and so was his father (paper boy). Following their example, Derrick decided he would try his hand at writing, a vocation of the lowest position in any publishing enterprise (typesetters and paperboys at least stand a reasonable chance of getting paid).

Through a secret and mysterious ceremony (which involved carting boxes of notes and first drafts from one house to another), Derrick was granted the illustrious mantle of “family author” by another writing relative (a second cousin twice removed), Rodger “Ray” Taylor, author of Song of the Frog and several magazine articles.

For a while, Derrick worked for a newspaper himself (writing hundreds of book reviews, and several interviews with authors, including Dan Simmons and Neil Gaiman), and also wrote movie reviews and served as Research Editor for Mick Martin & Marsha Porter’s The Video Movie Guide (until it stopped publication in 2007).

During all this, Derrick wanted to contribute to the world of fiction, to cast stories wide and reel in affected readers. But life’s detours and distractions got in the way, and no stories emerged for many years. In October 2007, with his two children searching for good things to read, Derrick felt the call back into the craft, completed The Servant and the Thief in 2009, and is presently writing a sequel. He is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and is a winner of the 2009 NaNoWriMo contest.

Contact the author here.