Thomas Zigal is the author of seven novels and numerous short stories and essays. His novels have won the Jesse H. Jones Award for Best Work of Fiction from the Texas Institute of Letters, the fiction award from the Philosophical Society of Texas, and the Violet Crown Award from the Writers' League of Texas. He is best known for his two trilogies: the New Orleans trilogy ("The White League," "Many Rivers to Cross," "Outcry Witness") and the Aspen trilogy ("Into Thin Air," "Hardrock Stiff," "Pariah"). Zigal lives in Austin, Texas.