Award-winning author William Speir was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1962, attended the University of Alabama, and graduated from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1984. He spent over 25 years in corporate America, serving as a management consultant, consulting practice leader, IT executive, and HR/Payroll executive for top tier consulting firms and Fortune 100 companies. During William's corporate career, he published several articles on leadership and the human impact of organizational/technology change. His first experience with book publishing was with a series of ten textbooks he authored about field artillery in the 19th century. These textbooks were later consolidated into a single volume and re-published in 2015 as Muzzle-Loading Artillery for Reenactors. In addition to his artillery manual, William has published 17 novels, including a 9-book action-adventure series (The Knights of the Saltire Series), five historical novels (King's Ransom, The Saga of Asbjorn Thorleikson, Nicaea - The Rise of the Imperial Church, Arthur, King, and The Besieged Pharaoh), one fantasy novel (The Kingstone of Airmid), and one science fiction novel (The Olympium of Bacchus 12). William is a 5-time Royal Palm Literary Award winner: 2014 Second Place Unpublished Historical Fiction for King's Ransom, 2015 Second Place Unpublished Historical Fiction for The Saga of Asbjorn Thorleikson, 2017 Second Place Published Historical Fiction for Arthur, King, 2017 First Place Published Historical Fiction for Nicaea - The Rise of the Imperial Church, and 2017 First Place Published Science Fiction for The Olympium of Bacchus 12. For more information about William Speir, please visit his website at WilliamSpeir.com.