C. M. Curtis brings a background of diverse experience to his writing. He grew up in a small western community in cattle ranching country. His paternal grandfather was a wild horse hunter in his youth and his maternal grandfather is said to have actually met Butch Cassidy. Curtis' first paying job, at twelve years of age, was in a slaughter house. He later became a construction worker, a truck driver, a structural steel welder, a coal miner and a licensed building contractor. 

In what he calls his second life, he has been a chiropractic physician, a radio talk show host, a newspaper columnist and, of course, a writer.