Phoenix McDonald was born in Richmond, Virginia, and spent most of his childhood moving around the country with his parents before settling in Wisconsin, where he were married and raised two children., Despite being disabled for much of his adult life, he enjoyed a long career as a Respiratory Therapist, culminating in a Supervisory position before being diagnosed with primary grade II brain cancer. Sidelined at last, Phoenix decided to become the writer he had always wanted to be, starting with nonfiction. As a grandparent, he moved to Portland, Oregon to be near his son and grandson and found himself to be at last at home and free to be who he always was. A lifelong fan of speculative fiction, Phoenix writes horror and scifi short stories, and fantasy novels. After publishing many of his short stories, A Discovery of Talents is Phoenix’s first published novel.