About the author

Joseph Picard

<p>Year of hatching: 1976<br/>Last seen: Lower Mainland, B.C., Canada<br/>Current level: 47<br/>Blood type: Red and tangy<br/><br/>Identifying features: Drives a manual wheelchair fuelled by taurine.<br/>Do not approach. Suspect won't shut up, especially if his books come up.<br/><br/>Known to be easily distracted by polyhedral dice.<br/>And crows.<br/>And dogs.<br/>And kids.<br/>And the colour 47.<br/><br/>A generally creative type, telling stories has become an increasingly driving force over the years.<br/><br/>While cycling to a computer repair job in 2001, Joseph was struck by a car, resulting in T5/6 paraplegia. Since then, he has married, and had two children, Caitlin and Lachlan.<br/><br/>Later dealing with significant paraplegia-related pressure wounds that resulted in another six months of hospitalization, Joseph gradually recovered to a 'healthy' paraplegic condition.<br/><br/>Joseph began volunteering at the local seniors centre, leading to a job. This position ended less than a year later due to Covid-19. A few months later, Joseph began working online for another non-profit organization dealing with community projects and seniors, and a company facilitating supervised access, for which he edited reports and co-ordinated supervisors.<br/><br/>These were cut short by the emergence of multiple sclerosis, which was diagnosed after a significant attack of the condition. Despite first impressions, MS has not managed to entirely stop his writing.</p>