David F Balog
David F. Balog was born, raised, and still lives in the Greater Cleveland are with his wife and cat. He grew up in the libraries of Lakewood and Parma, and his babysitters were the creatures of the Cleveland Aquarium; he had a special fondness for the giant octopus. Ever inquisitive, he dove deeply into science, paranormal studies, mathematics, and mythology at an early age, and never let go of the idea that they, and other studies, were all tightly connected. His fascination with fables and...See more
David F. Balog was born, raised, and still lives in the Greater Cleveland are with his wife and cat. He grew up in the libraries of Lakewood and Parma, and his babysitters were the creatures of the Cleveland Aquarium; he had a special fondness for the giant octopus. Ever inquisitive, he dove deeply into science, paranormal studies, mathematics, and mythology at an early age, and never let go of the idea that they, and other studies, were all tightly connected. His fascination with fables and mythology led him first to Dungeons & Dragons, then other role-playing games. Here, he learned to hone his talent for character creation, world building, and storytelling, more so as individual games extended into long campaigns. Over time, basic concepts became fully realized, and months and years spent focused on a single character gave time for them to develop depth. An avid reader, particularly, but certainly not limited to, science and science fiction, David always sought to learn more about the world. In his youth, he went to the Gifted Challenge Institute, essentially a summer camp for knowledge set on campus at local colleges, where he studied mathematics, biology, and physics far above his grade level. This had the unfortunate side-effect of putting him off traditional academia for a time, as regular classes were not available at his age to continue with his accelerated learning, causing his grades to slide from boredom. Years later, he would attend Cuyahoga Community College, Ursuline College, and Cleveland State University, eventually earning a Bachelors' Degree in both History and Social Studies, and a Master's Degree in History. All through his studies, he continued to focus on the theology, mythology, and fables and how they connected societies throughout time and regions. Though the stories and characters change, the underlying truths always remain the same: primarily, the constant striving of individuals to become better people. At long last, it fell on David to contribute his own stories and mythologies to the public consciousness. With the experience of developing characters and worlds combined with writing numerous research papers, David began work on his first novel: Necromancer's Lament, the first in a planned trilogy. See less