Richard Risemberg was born into a Jewish-Italian household in

Argentina, and brought to Los Angeles to escape the fascist regime of his homeland. He has lived there since, except for a digression to Paris in the turbulent Eighties. He attended Pepperdine University on a scholarship won in a writing competition, but left in his last year to work in jobs from gritty to glitzy, starting at a motorcycle shop and progressing through offices, retail, an independent design and manufacturing business, and most recently a stint managing an adult literacy program at a library branch in one of the poorest neighborhoods of the city. All has become source material for his writing.

So has his family, in particular his son Jack, for whom Journey Through the Shadowlands was originally improvised.

He has pursued journalism, photography, and editorial writing, as well as fiction, publishing stories, poems, essays, editorials, and articles in edited publications including newspapers, professional journals, and literary magazines the world over. The complete list, updated regularly, is available at CrowTreeBooks.com.