A.K. ROGALSKI
A.K. Rogalski
THE CREATIVE— Born Andrzej Rogalski in San Rafael, California and known to his friends as Drew. From a young age, Drew had a vivid imagination and creative mind and put those talents to use building cities and forts and spaceships from cardboard boxes acquired from the local supermarket or, if really lucky a refrigerator box from a neighbor. Eventually, those talents turned to a new medium, wood. With wood Drew built Viking shields, tools, swords and bows, imagining epic battles and stories to go with them. Then the golden age of action films arrived, the 80s. Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, Lundgren and all of their action characters left a lasting impression, as did the straight to video cheesy goodness.
Drew became an avid reader in high school, reading the likes of Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs. In 1989, Brotherhood of the Rose aired on TV. Having already been a fan of the spy genre through the likes of 007, David Morrell’s story set the hook deeper. From there it led to Stephen Hunter’s Point of Impact, arguably one to the best endings of a thriller book ever, and Ludlum’s Borne series, to Mitch Rapp and Reacher, Scott Harvath and John Rain to a whole slew of amazing characters and stories written by fantastic authors whom I hope to spotlight through my Prometheans readership.
The creative bug kept knocking and after the accumulation of various life experiences it was time to put all of that knowledge into the kinds of stories Drew grew up with and wanted to read.
THE AGENT—In 2001, while living in Australia for almost a year, and visiting a cousin in Sydney in September, tragedy struck. After that fateful day, Drew cut his time short in the Oz and flew home amidst the chaos, intent on serving his country in some capacity. By 2003, after a lengthy hiring process, Drew became a special agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration. Working out of the San Francisco Divisional Office, Drew spent his tenure assigned to several specialized groups targeting local gangs, cartels, and drug manufacturers involved in the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, MDMA, meth, fentanyl and other narcotics. As a team member, leader and case agent Drew wrote and served hundreds of arrest and search warrants, conducted thousands of surveillance operations from the central valley to the northernmost border of California and finally along the Texas border where he spent two years before ending his career as an agent.
THE OUTDOORSMAN—Growing up in Northern California provided a natural playground Drew took advantage of. Whether riding his BMX bike on the hills and trails behind his house, or boogie boarding and surfing the waves in Santa Cruz, to hiking the forests and snowboarding the snow-capped mountains of Lake Tahoe, Drew spent his days outside being active. His love of the outdoors and time as an agent led him to discover the sport of Biathlon which became the inspiration for Kaz Nowak.
THE MARTIAL ARTIST—Inspired by Bruce Lee and Hong Kong martial arts movies, which Drew would watch Saturday afternoons on Kung Fu theater, to the chagrin of the rest of the family, he went with a friend to a Karate class at the age of eight and was hooked. It would take another four years before, after much pleading, he would officially begin his martial arts training. Drew spent the next 15 years studying Fut Gar, Sil Lum Gung Fu, Tai Chi, Judo, and Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū and still practices to this day. Through his passion and experience, Drew hopes to bring a level of authenticity and realism to his stories and characters, taking readers on a thrilling odyssey.