Fred Aceves was born in New York to a Mexican father and Dominican mother. He spent most of his youth in Southern California and Tampa, Florida, where he grew up in a tough, working-class neighborhood filled with single moms. He attended five high schools and worked two jobs before eventually dropping out of school. He later earned his GED and traveled around the world. He has worked as a delivery driver, server, cook, car salesman, freelance editor and teacher of English as a second language. He is published by HarperCollins and currently lives in Mexico. The Closest I’ve Come was a Kirkus Best Book of 2017. The New David Espinoza is his second novel. Fred has lived in seven different countries and currently resides in Mexico. His online home is www.fredaceves.com.