Austin Bay writes both novels and non-fiction. Bay's A Quick and Dirty Guide to War: Fourth Edition (an assessment of current and potential armed conflicts, co-authored with James Dunnigan) will be published in October 2008 by Paladin Press. His third novel, The Wrong Side of Brightness, was published by Putnam/Jove in 2003. Austin is currently working on his fourth novel.

Bay writes a national security column for Creators Syndicate. His commentaries run on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. He has appeared as a guest analyst on CNN, C-SPAN, Fox News, and ABC News Nightline.

Bay, who has had two commercial wargames published, served for four years as a consultant in wargaming at the Pentagon. He holds the rank of Colonel (Armor) in the U.S. Army Reserve. In 1999 Bay served as deputy commander of a Hurricane Mitch recovery operation in Guatemala.

Bay is now retired from the US Army Reserve, but was recalled to active duty and served in Iraq in 2004.

Bay has a B.A. from Rice University and a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia University. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army War College. He currently teaches for The University of Texas' Plan II Undergraduate Honors Program.

On the web his work appears at austinbay.net, creators.com, http://austinbay.thearenausa.com, pajamasmedia.com, and strategypage.com .