Sam Pakan has spent the last twenty-six years pursuing his passion of raising range-fed beef cattle and working with Quarter Horses. Operating the ranch he grew up on, his love of the land is equaled only by his ardor for great books and powerful stories. He received his MFA in English literature from West Texas A&M University and taught freshman composition at his alma mater for two years. For three years, he wrote and edited for Accent West, a regional magazine for the Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico High Plains. Between 1985 and 1988, he taught college preparatory English to high school seniors. He has had short fiction and poetry published in Images from the High Plains, WTSU Review of the Arts, and Separate Doors. JESSE'S SEED, the first novel of his series, was the 2015 Athanatos Grand Prize winner. He is currently writing the second novel of the series, A BED IN SHEOL. The two novels follow David Dremmer through the privations of WWII chronicling his battles against darkness within and horrors without, and his eventual growth into a life of meaning and purpose. Pakan is a member of Panhandle Professional Writers.