Karl El-Koura was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and currently lives in Ottawa, Ontario (Canada). He has published more than sixty short stories and articles as well as two collections. Karl holds a second-degree black belt in Okinawan Goju Ryu karate, is an avid commuter-cyclist, and works for the Canadian Federal Public Service.

Primarily a writer of fiction, Karl works in a wide variety of genres, from science fiction and horror to mainstream and detective fiction, as well as in lengths ranging from short stories to novels.  Almost all of his work can be classified as theological fiction—a Christian deeply interested in the "big" questions, Karl's stories explore issues of theology and spirituality even when he doesn’t consciously intend them to do so.  For those who care to know, Karl is a Greek Orthodox Christian.

You can visit his homepage to read other free stories at http://www.ootersplace.com/free-fiction/; you can check out his published books at http://www.ootersplace.com/books/.