Richard Allan “Rick” Noble started his career in publishing at Canada’s National Newspaper, The Globe and Mail. He moved to the U.S. in 1990 and continued to work as an executive in digital publishing in the newspaper, periodical, medical, aviation, and K-12 industries, before retiring in 2022. Always a history buff, Rick became interested in the Civil War during a brief period when he lived in Kentucky. His oldest daughter was born in Louisville, and some of her first restaurant meals in life were at The Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown, Kentucky. That tavern and Bardstown both play important roles in King Cotton II: Kentucky Gold.

Rick's wife was born in Wichita, Kansas, and she still has many relatives living in and around that state. A significant amount of the action in King Cotton II: Kentucky Gold and King Cotton III: Jack & the Ripper takes place in the Jayhawk State, in part as a tribute to her and her family. And the King Cotton series overall is a tribute to America, her history, and to the American West.

Rick holds a B.A. and an M.B.A. from the University of Toronto, and currently resides in Colorado. King Cotton was his first novel.