Joe Woods, a native of the Mississippi Delta town of Richey. After graduating from Mississippi State University he worked for the U.S. Forest Service in Northern California at the Tahoe National Forest for two years. Then returned to Mississippi and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for thirty-eight years retiring in 2003. A lifelong passion for writing began at an early age in the form of short stories and poetry. He always had the desire to write the “Great American” novel. During forty-four days of recovery following heart surgery in 1992, he sat up in bed, created the character Woody McKenzie and wrote his first novel, long hand on a yellow legal pad. To date, he has written and published five novels: Where the Ferry Crosses, The Trial, Old Main Burning, and An Unexpected Flight. Secrets of the Spiral Tower is the fifth and possibly the final installment in the series called “The McKenzie Chronicles.” Joe is an avid outdoors-man and enjoys woodworking when weather conditions keep him from driving his tractor and Polaris. A former resident of Vicksburg, he now resides in Raymond, Mississippi.