About the Author

E.J.Bertel (pronounced bûr-tel’ as in burr-tell), the author of the Flores Girl Trilogy, survived SUNY at Stony Brook with a degree in biology while training as a physical anthropologist. E.J. actually studied with some of the same team that examined the Homo floresiensis find. Professionally, he enjoyed a successful career in product marketing and Internet marketing with several large Fortune 1000 companies. Before writing Flores Girl, E.J. did enjoy writing the occasional short story or pithy corporate email but his writing didn’t really blossom until the find on Flores Island in 2004 galvanized him into action. Originally conceived as an adventure story centered about Richard the alcoholic and womanizing scientist, the novel took a decided different turn with the introduction of Sarah Levine, the temperamental and sensitive protagonist to Richard. Sarah’s presence allowed the concept of the original novel to develop into a trilogy and beyond. In the second novel, “Emptiness and the Warrior” Sarah is physically and spiritually transformed from the victim of the first novel into a classic reluctant hero.