Edward Mickolus

Ed Mickolus has written over 48 books (so far) ranging from terrorism studies to humor, had a wide-ranging 33 year career at the CIA, founded a research company, teaches intelligence, mentors writers, collects neckties and classic cars, and is even a recovering stand-up comedian.

With his varied and interesting background, he can speak about so many different topics, from fun to serious. Want to know what it's like to work inside the CIA? Interested in some insider CIA humor? Want to know how to conduct a briefing for senior executives? Want writing advice and encouragement from an author of over 45 books? Want to know how to write a realistic spy thriller? And much more!

After graduating from Georgetown University, Ed Mickolus wrote the first doctoral dissertation on international terrorism while earning an M.A., M.Phil, and Ph.D. from Yale University.

He then served in analytical, operational, management, and staff positions in the Central Intelligence Agency for 33 years, where he was CIA’s first full-time analyst on international terrorism; analyzed African political, economic, social, military, and leadership issues; wrote political-psychological assessments of world leaders; and managed collection, counterintelligence, and covert action programs against terrorists, drug traffickers, weapons proliferators, and hostile espionage services.

He founded Vinyard Software, Inc., whose products include ITERATE (International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events) text and numeric datasets and DOTS (Data on Terrorist Suspects). Clients include 200 universities in two dozen countries.

His 48 books include a series of multi-volume chronologies and biographies on international terrorism; more than two dozen book chapters; 100 articles and reviews in refereed scholarly journals and newspapers and presentations to professional societies; and 14 humorous publications.

For the following ten years, he was a senior instructor for SAIC and its spinoff, Leidos, Inc. He served as the Deborah M. Hixon Professor of Intelligence Tradecraft and was on the Board of Advisors at the Daniel Morgan Graduate School in Washington, D.C.

He often addresses meetings of the Florida Writers Association and university courses, mentoring aspiring authors. He taught creativity at government facilities, universities, and civic societies.

A recovering standup comic, he often gives presentations on his collection of 1,700 fashion-challenged neckties and collects classic automobiles.

He is married to Susan Schjelderup and they live in the Jacksonville, Florida area.