Blake Anderson was raised in the Appalachian Mountains by avid fantasy-reading parents, and he spent countless hours of his childhood creating political maps and story-based illustrations. His early love for storytelling and history, particularly Byzantine history and international relations, sparked a lifelong passion for writing—particularly political thrillers (though perhaps less bloody than the history of Constantinople). He has written three novels, and is in the process of developmental edits for his third novel.
In 2016, Blake turned his passions for trains, map-making, and writing into a career in transportation planning. His work took him from the Tri-State area to Taiwan, where he had the opportunity to present to the Ministry of the Interior and gained valuable international perspectives on the field. He graduated with honors from both his undergraduate and graduate studies, where his focus on urban planning and GIS set the foundation for his career. After earning a Master’s in Urban Planning, Blake joined the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) as a GIS Analyst, where he has contributed to improving the region's data quality and long-range transportation planning efforts.
Blake’s self-taught proficiency in Python, SQL, and Adobe products has further enhanced his ability to tackle complex projects, such as designing a packaged tools for SANDAG or building his own website. Fluent in Mandarin and knowledgeable in Japanese and German, Blake’s multilingual skills have opened doors to international collaborations, such as internships in Vienna and Taipei, and helped him better understand global planning perspectives.
Blake now lives in sunny San Diego with his husband, Kaito, and their sweet cat, Uri. When he's not immersed in ArcGIS Pro or Scrivener, he loves gifting his ceramic creations to his reluctant friends, painting landscapes from his travels, and burying himself in a good book.