Russ Howard was born in the north end of the Shenandoah valley. He grew to manhood in rural West Virginia, where the mountaineer culture conveyed to Russ a sense of fierce independence, which is a running theme in his books. In his youth his first passion was for the animals he kept, an assortment of creatures from owls and pigeons to chipmunks and foxes. As he entered adolescence he developed an obsession for running and became an accomplished cross-country and track athlete.
His education spanned across international borders. He attended four major Universities in three states and for a number of years he lived abroad as a student in various German cities as well as Kitzbuhl, Austria. During his stint there he learned to love and appreciate the German tongue and culture.
He is greatly influenced by English Literature, Germanic, Keltic, and Slavic Mythology. He is an admirer of the operatic genius Richard Wagner, the political innovator and democratic theorist Thomas Jefferson, and reveres J.R.R. Tolkien as the greatest modern story-teller. Russ’s spiritual philosophies have been condensed from sources of mysticism and Kabballah. He especially praises the works of Rudolph Steiner, Bruno Bettelheim, and Martin Buber.
Most of his life he worked as a Mental Health Investigator, and a Marriage, Family, and Child Therapist. Now Russ lives with his wife Kathryn, a dancer, in Roseburg, Oregon. He spends his time as an avid gardener, small-scale farmer, and shepherd.
Thank you for reading The Isle of Ilkchild. I hope that you fell in love with the heroes, hated the villains and laughed with the jesters.
The Isle of Ilkchild is the fourth book in the eleven book series, The King of Three Bloods, which follows the many trials and tribulations faced by the freedom-loving Syr Folk. If you enjoyed this fourth installment, you are humbly, though excitedly, invited to continue your journey with all the many colorful characters in book four, The Bok of Syr Folk.
Be sure to check out
TheKingofThreeBloods.com
for future book releases, articles by and about the author and other news concerning the series.
The Isle of Ilkchild (The King of Three Bloods Book 4) Page 41