Richard 'Rick' Weaver's first fiction piece, Rumble, was selected for his high school literary magazine. His second work of fiction, The Infinity Man, a Sci-fi movie script, won a notable award from American Pen Women, Sacramento. The two works were written more than sixteen years apart. Rick served in the military as an officer, including a tour of duty in Vietnam. Afterwards, he worked in a variety of jobs from teaching to telephone sales to performing arts. It wasn't until he wrote children's stories, adapting them for puppet theater that he developed his abilities as a professional writer. Rick earned an MFA degree in Professional Writing (University of Southern California) and then pursued that career. In mid-life, as a result of exposure to toxins during his tour of duty in Vietnam, he became totally blind. Forced to leave his professional employment, he set about learning entirely new skill sets to cope with the loss of his sight. It took years until he began writing again. Today, using computer screen reading technology, Rick is able to write a variety of fiction, including short stories, novellas, scripts, and novels, his favorite. La Soledad, based in part on his war experience, is his third novel.