Nathan Walpow has been collecting cacti and other succulent plants for over twenty years and has over 400 specimens in his collection. He is president of the Sunset Succulent Society, located in Los Angeles. In 1997 his short story, "This Bud's for You," was the first fiction ever to appear in the Cactus and Succulent Journal, the publication of the Cactus and Succulent Society of America.

Nathan has been writing since 1992. Before that, he had ten years experience as an actor, working on the stage and on television shows such as Moonlighting, and he is a five-time undefeated Jeopardy!champion.