RICHARD LEE BYERS is the author of over twenty-five fantasy and horror novels, including the Forgotten Realms titles Dissolution, The Rage, The Rite, The Ruin, Queen of the Depths, The Black Bouquet, and the upcoming trilogy The Haunted Lands. His short stories have appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies, and he is a frequent guest at Florida science fiction conventions and at GenCon Indianapolis, where he participates in the writer's symposium.