Mathias Perez grew up in the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the US-Mexico border. That experience, as the son of a Latino father and an Anglo mother, has at times made him feel at home and yet alien in both cultures. October Surprise is Perez' first novella. Perez previously published Honor Bound, an original feature film screenplay. That work was inspired by Perez' experience as a young US Army lieutenant wrestling with the prospect of combat in the first Persian Gulf War. Perez lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his two children.