Professional Background

Travis Heermann graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a Bachelor's Degree in electrical engineering. Until 2003, he worked as an electronic design engineer, designing projects like Digital BusWatch and an audio/visual tour system for Kennedy Space Center.

In 2003, he shifted his career path from engineering to education, and moved to Japan for three years, where he taught English in public junior high and elementary schools. Nothing makes a person more aware of the structure and idiosyncracies of English than having to teach it. With intensive study, he also learned to speak and write Japanese.

In 2008, he entered graduate school at the University of Nebraska Omaha as a Graduate Teaching Assistant, teaching English Composition and serving as a writing consultant in the UNO Writing Center. In 2010, he received a Master of Arts in English with a graduate certificates in Advanced Writing and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. One might call him a life-long student with expertise in highly technical industries, education, and the creative side of writing.

Travis has been writing creatively for many years. His novel, Heart of the Ronin, was published by Gale-Cengage/Five Star in spring 2009. His first novel, an epic fantasy entitled The Ivory Star was published in 1996. He has also published several short fiction pieces in print and online magazines.

In 1999, he began to advance a career in freelance writing, and wrote extensively for Alderac Entertainment Group. His most recent work in the games industry has been game content content for EVE Online. He has also written more than thirty articles for magazines such as The Writer, Writers' Journal, Midlands Business Journal, Scrye, Undefeated, and AJET Across Japan. For more information about his creative work, check out his author website -- www.travisheermann.com, where he also maintains a successful blog about the writing life.

Since he started freelance writing full time, he has worked for individuals, small businesses, high-tech companies, advertising agencies, and business publications. In all, he has more than 500,000 published words to his credit.

Aside from his post-graduate writing education, he has been trained in copywriting techniques by the best copywriters in the business, Bob Bly, Michael Masterson, and Peter Bowerman, to name a few. You will not find a freelance copywriter more committed to giving you friendly, professional service of the highest quality.

Personal Background

Travis Heermann has been writing as long as he can remember. He wrote his first novel at the tender age of 14. He grew up on the lonely plains of rural Nebraska reading about hobbits, vampires, Cimmerians, Tharks, and Jedi, forever twisting him into his current, occasionally warped persona (if you know what all those are, you're as big a geek as he is).

Since high school - in addition to being an engineer, an English teacher, and a writer - he has been, in no particular order: a museum attendant, a bookseller, a referee, a farmer, a construction worker, a comic shop clerk, a pilot, a game designer, and a private English tutor. This broad spectrum of experiences he applies to his writing every day, and if a day ever goes by when he does not learn something new, he will probably be dead.

He lived in Nebraska all his life until moving to Fukuoka, Japan, for three years. During that time, he experienced the wonders of Asia. Beautiful Bali, with its lush jungles, breathtaking coral reefs, and entrepreneurial spirit fighting against persistent poverty and terrorism. Untamed Cambodia, with the ancient magnificence of Angkor Wat, against its backdrop of crushing poverty and brutal, heartbreaking history. Vivacious Vietnam, with the endless friendliness, ingenuity, and perseverance of the Vietnamese people, struggling to recover from decades of war and isolation. Wild, exotic Thailand, with its rich, fascinating culture, fantastic food, surprise and wonder around every corner, bejeweled temples and shining golden Buddhas. And most of all Japan, a wonderful, endlessly puzzling dichotomy, a vibrant ultra-modern economy with five hundred-year old shrines on every mountain. At the same time, more modern than America and as primitive and simple as it was hundreds of years ago, a country where people forego chairs to sit on woven reed mats to view cherry blossoms and talk to friends on hi-tech cell phones.

When he's not writing, he's probably playing a game of some sort, mostly Texas Hold'Em these days, reading novels or history books, cooking, cycling, trying keep up proficiency with Japanese language, or practicing martial arts.