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But first, just in case you wandered into this home page by accident, and might be wondering what cops, robbers, terrorists, federal agents and crime labs could possibly have to do with an overgrown cat (or to be more precise, a 120 pound male cougar, complete with teeth, claws and self-serving attitude), perhaps I ought to introduce myself.

I am, by trade, a crime scene investigator, forensic scientist, wildlife crime lab director, husband, father, grandfather, supposed cattle rancher, and more to the point, a fiction author who writes fiction novels about professional terrorists, underground chemists, demented burglars and malicious poachers for any number of reasons.

At least one of which is mental health.

Why mental health, you ask? Well, imagine that you'd spent 12 years of your post-college life as a police criminalist, grubbing around the evidence of several hundred gory, homicide-rape-and-robbery crimes while trying to link the suspects and victims to the crime scenes. Then continue to imagine that you'd spent the next 17 years working for the federal government, first endeavoring to create a crime lab for federal, state and international wildlife law enforcement officers ... and then trying very hard to be a non-Dilbert-like boss for roughly 30 wildlife forensic scientists and support staff who were deliberately hired for their inventive minds and free spirits as well as their forensic skills. And then, finally, imagine looking out your living room window and realizing that you actually own cows, most of whom are constantly trying to escape to the neighboring pastures and/or the local golf course for whatever reasons that possess a cow to do such things. We will ignore, for the moment, the issue of the possum that was determined to convert our closet into a permanent residence, and my wife's rather jaundiced view of that effort (she seems to think it reflects poorly on her general house-keeping skills, and she is not the least bit interested in the opinion of a wildlife-loving fiction writer who is trying very hard to maintain a straight face).

Any more questions about the mental health part?

I thought not.

Anyway, I set these pages up to let you poke around in my head (at least to the point of finding out something about my background and my books, if such things actually interest you), and to give you a chance to read some sample chapters from my published --- and currently available --- novels.

And if that little marketing trick gets you curious enough to want to read the entire novel (and, ideally, from my point of view, actually own a copy), I've even added my publisher's 800-book order number for your ordering convenience, as well as a connection to a couple of electronic bookstores that claim to sell my books [Personally, I like to rummage around book stores, but the convenience is intriguing, and who am I to question the methods of a cherished reader?

And finally, for those of you who aren't particularly interested in gory fiction books, or cows, but would like to know more about cops, robbers, terrorists, wildlife, federal agents or forensics, I've added a few links to what I think are some interesting forensic science home pages, one of which will give you a tour of the National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab (my place of employment).

Happy reading ....

Ken Goddard.

NOTE: If you want to comment on any of the information in these pages, or ask questions, you can send me an e-mail message at KenGoddard@aol.com (for writing related topics) or ken_goddard@fws.gov (for the official government stuff).

Warning: I spend most of my time working, writing, enjoying my family, watching out for the now full grown possum, and occasionally checking on the cow (okay, steers, if you want to get technical) situation, so there may be a slight delay in my response.