James C. McMillan is a retired Chemical Engineer. He and his wife of 50 years raised three daughters. Born and raised in East Texas, he had a keen interest in Texas history, but as there was little opportunity to make a living by studying history, other than teaching, he chose his second favorite subject, Chemistry, and earned a degree in Chemical Engineering from Lamar University. He joined an Engineering and Construction company and his career enabled him to travel the world, working on construction sites in remote locations in Kuwait, Algeria, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Iraq, India, and Peru. He also spent several years doing engineering design work in England and Scotland, where he pursued his interest in medieval history, resulting in several historical novels about the Viking Age.