Mike Lawson was raised in Pueblo, Colorado with a passel of brothers and one sister, then attended Seattle University and got a degree in engineering. After college, he went to work for the U.S. Navy as a nuclear engineer and spent about thirty years working for the Navy's nuclear power program. He spent some time in Washington D.C., but most of his career was at a large naval shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. At the shipyard he managed a number of different organizations related to overhauling nuclear powered submarines, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. He ended his career as a member of the government's Senior Executive Service and as the top civilian at the shipyard responsible for navy reactor plant work on the west coast. The influence of his former career on his writing is discussed briefly in the "Behind the Books" section of his Web site.

So how'd he go from nuclear engineering to writing? The short answer is he likes to write, it's fun for him, so he tried his hand at it. He tells people if you want to be a writer you need some talent, a lot of persistence, and a whole lot of luck - probably more luck than talent. In 2004, he got very lucky: a fantastic agent liked THE INSIDE RING (2005) and got him a two-book deal with a publisher. THE SECOND PERIMETER came out in 2006. His third book, HOUSE RULES came out in June 2008.