When a gang lord told novelist Ryan Gattis to cut to the chase, he did. Surprising to the Chapman University professor was that the command was also a gift that released his creativity and helped guide him to the completion of his acclaimed novel about the Los Angeles riots of 1992, All Involved: A Novel of the 1992 L.A. Riots.

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Gattis is also the author of novels Kung Fu High School and Roo Kickkick & the Big Bad Blimp, as well as two novella, The Big Drop: Homecoming and The Big Drop: Impermanence. He lives and writes in Los Angeles, where he is a member of the street art crew Uglarworks.

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