Some of John’s fondest memories were those times spent playing in and around his rural Midwestern home. Here, his days were filled with exploring the Ohio River Valley woodlands, playing with action figures¹, and creating. Whether drawing & sculpting, building model cars & planes, or making working rockets & electronics, John made things using just about every resource available to him. Science fiction and fantasy of the 70s and 80s fueled this creativity, and he spent hours dreaming up character backstories, designing elaborate scenes, and imagining new creatures and worlds altogether.

A “student of all sciences²," John has always been curious about life, the universe, and our place in it. Forced to focus as adults must do, he tuned his scientific curiosity and earned masters and doctorate degrees in evolutionary biology. In this capacity, John spent a large part of his early career discovering and studying tropical plants. Even then, John continually tapped into his creative abilities. He worked in part during this time as a scientific illustrator, creating drawings of newly discovered species. And as a writer, John crafted not only scientific papers but also more creative accounts, detailing his experiences while on an expedition for a magazine’s travel feature, for example.

Today, John now fully channels his diverse experiences, interests, and aptitudes into making and writing, working as a freelance creator in San Diego County, California. Here, John can usually be found either writing his next story or working in ‘the lab’ – his retrofitted garage that serves as equal parts workshop, maker space, and art studio. In the lab, he will undoubtedly be working on some creation for a story idea or making another electronics widget of unknown utility.

1 If you must ask, yes, he still plays with action figures. So what? ↩

2 This is a quote from Dr. Emmett “Doc” Brown of Back to the Future. Goofy? Perhaps. Telling? Most certainly. ↩