Greg Sykes grew up in Cabot, Arkansas, dreaming of being a sports writer and the next great American novelist. He cut his teeth on an eclectic mix of writing influences, from the the science fantasy roots of J.R.R. Tolkien, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Stephen R. Donaldson to the gritty world of the western by Louis L'Amour, Zane Grey, and Max Brand, with classics by Harper Lee, Kurt Vonnegut, and even Henry David Thoreau mixed in.

His love of sports and sports writing led him to the University of Arkansas and its journalism program. He graduated from the UA with degrees in Journalism and Political Science, but experienced a significant change in life perspective and goals after being involved in Student Mobilization, a non-denominational Christian ministry devoted to evangelizing, establishing and equipping college students.

In fact, his first job after college was as Media Director for Student Mobilization, which was based in Conway, Arkansas. It was there that he meet and married his wife, Jamie Carter, while he was helping create newsletters, brochures, and videos for Student Mobilization's growing college ministry.

After two years with Student Mobilization, Greg began to feel the call to full-time ministry, which led to a position with First Baptist Church of Dover, Arkansas, as an Associate Pastor and Minister of Youth. Although he had tinkered with writing novels while in college, he completed his first novel, Skinwalker: The Legend of King's River, while ministering in Dover.

Eventually, after the birth of his daughter, Anna Grace, Greg felt called to make the move to First Baptist Church of Russellville as Minister of Children & Families. His role there has evolved over time until he is currently serving as Associate Pastor and Minister of Education.

As his family grew with the birth of two sons, Carter and Reed, his writing went more and more to the back burner, especially as he completed a Master's Degree in Biblical Studies from Trinity Theological Seminary in Newburgh, Indiana. But, over the last year or so, his work and family has allowed him the pleasure of writing a blog and resuming his work with novels.

Skinwalker was finally completed and published in December of 2008, and his second novel, The Light on the Tracks, followed closely behind in April of 2009. He published his third novel, Cords of Shadow, in October of 2010.

His desire as a novelist is to present new expressions of the love and grace of God through an entirely fictional, often historical, setting. One of his favorite influences, J.R.R. Tolkien, used to refer to such an idea as "eucatastrophe," a sudden and miraculous grace in an other-worldly setting.

Greg's writings are often influenced by his love of history and the supernatural, blending real-life scenarios from the past with modern legends, myths, and tales of the supernatural. Greg's philosophy is that a good scare never hurt anyone . . . as long as they know that good and God always win in the end. So his novels often take the reader on a dangerous journey, but the end is always clear -- the grace and goodness of God in Jesus Christ.