J. Clifford Barnes is a retired State of California worker and a civil engineer. H traveled extensively during his career, training and speaking on engineering-related subject, and wrote or rewrote four books as part of his duties. He began writing fiction in the 1990s, and is writing more extensively now during his retirement years. Writers influencing his work include Earl Stanley Gardner, Louis L' Amour, J. A. Jance, Sue Grafton, and Dick Francis. He lives on California's North Coast with his artist wife, Susan Kay Barnes, and with two rambunctious small dogs.