Gary Hawkes spent most of his child hood years on Whidbey Island in western Washington, aside from three years spent in Japan during his mother and step-father's Navy deployment. The experience of living in Japan and calling that country home and then moving back to the U.S., had quite the effect on the young aspiring writer; a unique perspective on what it means to be an American. At age 11, on the 1st day of school in 6th grade, Gary suffered a grand mal seizure. This was Gary's 2nd grand mall seizure during his life which warranted the diagnosis of epilepsy. Gary continues to live with the condition. Early on however, Gary's interests were mostly in music and sports. It was periodic encouragements from family and specifically a high school teacher that spurred Gary to pursue writing more diligently later on. Most of Gary's early writings were simple short stories and some poetry. Several years after graduating college he published his first collection of poems and followed quickly after with several more books of poetry and short stories. Currently living in Spokane, WA with his family.