Brian Fontenot is a Louisiana native and graduate of Louisiana State University. He was the recipient of the Mary Manheim Award for Non-Fiction and worked as a reporter in south Louisiana for the Tri-Parish Times, the Gumbo Entertainment Guide, the Courier, and the Daily Comet. He was also a freelance writer and columnist for Tiger Weekly. He has been a technical writer and editor in a variety of fields including emergency and disaster management and planning, IT, oil and gas, and health insurance.