A good non-fiction story should be more than just a bunch of facts. Author Conrad J. Storad says that non-fiction stories should be fun. That’s exactly what he tries to do with each and every book that he writes for young readers. Storad is an award-winning author, editor, and science writer. He is the author of more than 30 science and nature books for children and young adults. His books have won many awards. In 2010, his book Rattlesnake Rules won a Glyph Award from the Arizona Book Publishers Association. In 2008, Meerkats won the Glyph Award as “Arizona’s Best Book.” It also won for “Best Children’s Non-Fiction.” In 2005, as part of her program to promote reading, then Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano selected Storad’s Don't Call Me Pig! (A Javelina Story). More than 93,000 Arizona first graders received a special edition copy of the book. In 2001, the Arizona Library Association honored Storad with the Judy Goddard Award as “Arizona Children’s Author of the Year.”

In February 2010, Storad retired from his “day job” as director of the Office of Research Publications at Arizona State University. For more than 24 years he was executive editor for the nationally acclaimed ASU Research Magazine, which he helped to create in 1986. He also is the founding editor of Chain Reaction Magazine, a publication written for young readers that highlights stories about science, learning, and creative activity taking place at ASU. During his tenure as editor, Storad and his staff won more than 350 regional, national, and international awards for writing, editing, photography, illustration, publication and Web site design, and video production.

Prior to working at ASU, Storad worked as a reporter, editor, and general manager for The Barberton Herald newspaper in northeast Ohio. He also worked as a science/medical writer for the U.S. National Cancer Institute, a freelance magazine writer, and as a feature writer/editor at Kent State University. He earned a mass media communication degree from the University of Akron in 1979. In 1983, he received a master's degree in mass communication/science journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Telecommunication. He was a Year 2000 inductee to the Cronkite School’s Journalism Hall of Fame. He also was a 2007 inductee to the Barberton High School Academic Hall of Fame. Storad is a member of the National Association of Science Writers, Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators, International Reading Association, Arizona Book Publisher’s Association, and is a past president of the University Research Magazine Association.