Richard Meredith's draft card drew the number 9 in 1969. With the Vietnam war raging, he quickly enlisted in the Navy. It would be a defining moment, opening doors to a future he could only have imagined.

For next four decades, Richard leveraged his naval experience to earn a college degree and build a strong career that spanned commercial fishing and marine science. By his own admission, he did a lot of writing, mostly technical manuals.

But in 2015, his keyboarding turned to fiction with the release of Skydance, followed this fall with his second book, The Crow's Nest.

We trace his adventures in The Craft, deconstruct his writing process and learn about how a kid from Flint, Michigan became an up and coming author.

Learn more about Richard at his website: RichardWMeredith.com