ABOUT

An adventure seeker and Navy veteran, Evan now writes thrillers based on the things he loves, sailboats, diving, guns, and the Caribbean.

I grew up reading Clive Cussler, Stephen Coonts, and John D. McDonald. Plus, there were a lot of motorcycle, dirt bike, and ATV magazines lying around as motorcycles were my first love as a kid in Ohio, so much so that I went to Motorcycle Mechanics Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, becoming a certified Honda and Yamaha technician.

I didn’t develop a passion for the ocean until I joined the Navy in 1997 and moved to Norfolk, Virginia.

The Ryan Weller Thrillers are about things that I enjoy doing: sailing, scuba diving, and shooting guns. When I was on active duty, I was an aviation electronics tech. As part of my job, I interacted with EOD, but was never in the club. I always admired them because they seemed to be jacks-of-all trades, and they were part of the Special Operations community. I wanted to honor these unsung heroes by having my character, Ryan Weller, be an EOD tech.

I’m center-brained and I get bored easily. I worked a lot of jobs in construction, as a security guard, a motorcycle and car technician, a property manager, and in the scuba industry. One of my favorite jobs was being an aviation electronics technician in the U.S. Navy, working first as a line rat and then on the mine countermeasures gear at the now decommissioned helicopter squadron HM-14. My new favorite passion is writing. 

After a motorcycle accident in 2001 left me paralyzed, the Navy said, “You’re out of here,” and medically retired me. I moved back to Ohio, got married, had a son, and completed a bachelors in business management. I grew tired of the cold and the snow. It doesn’t make it easy to get around when you’re in a wheelchair. 

After years of trying to convince the wife to sell the house and travel, we finally bought a twenty-five-foot toy hauler. I voided the warranty the day we brought it home by taking out one of the bunks and then building and installing custom cabinets. We spent several winters traveling the Southwest, and eventually sold the Ohio house. We lived in the trailer full time for about two years and saw most of the U.S., except Kansas and Nebraska, and New England. We’ll get there. You can see our travels at www.wheelsonfire1.blogspot.com or see our current road trips on my personal Facebook page.

Along the way, I tried my hand at a lot of action sports; snow and water skiing, skydiving, bungee jumping, and scuba diving. I love to dive, so much that we ended up settling in Hollywood, Florida, and I’m working on my technical diving certifications. When not diving or writing, I’m out catching as many large mouth and peacock bass as I can in the local canals.

Life has blessed me with the time to write. I started a book when I was first injured and fourteen years later dusted it off and rewrote it (see Liberty Brigade). After that, I put it on a shelf and went on to write the Ryan Weller Thriller Series. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I have enjoyed writing them.