Sam Ricks grew up crafting stories about toxic fruitcakes, peanut butter-snatching aliens, and killer vacuums. After studying film, art, and political science at Brigham Young University, he worked as Director of Design at Kinateder, Inc. and then earned an MA in Publications Design from the University of Baltimore. His artwork has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times. He and his wife have 3 children, 0 fruitcakes, 0 aliens, and 1 vacuum.