John was born in the small southern West Virginia town of Mullens on an election-day Tuesday in 1975. His grandfather introduced John to the woods surrounding his home nearly from birth, frequently taking John for hikes in a backpack carrier, and John spent a large portion of his childhood exploring the forest and building a connection to them that would later echo throughout his creative work.
John developed a voracious appetite for books early in life, reading several hundred books in elementary school alone. His favorites tended toward the imaginative genres prized by young boys, from adventure to science fiction and fantasy, and to nonfiction as well—John always wanted to know "how things worked" and devoured works on science and nature to the point he found himself correcting mistakes in his school science texts (to the consternation of his teachers) and taking apart expensive radios and conducting chemistry experiments to often-flammable results in the basement (to the consternation of his parents).
John's imagination and creativity have demanded expression throughout his life. As a child, he created all manner of props from cardboard boxes with the assistance of only scissors, a knife, permanent marker, and tape, an art form that culminated in the spaceship control room beneath his bunk bed, complete with a "fusion reactor" with articulated controls. Each of his toys had their own stories and histories spun about them, from super-genius toddler Babykins to the protective spirit Ne-Ne who appeared as a blanket. He did intricate pencil artwork showing the inner workings of his spaceship Exerda, and he devoted hours to creating a haunted house in the front yard each Halloween.
Given his interest in reading and active imagination and strong creative drive, it would seem only natural for John to turn to writing as a form of expression. Though his earliest work harkened to space opera of almost comic form, John found his interests returning often to his own childhood and the woods in which he spent them, and thus began work on the Worlds Saga, a series of stories drawing upon the themes of childhood imagination and the mindset and worldviews of the young-at-heart.
While working on the Worlds Saga, John has continued to expand his creative venues, both in developing new skills (such as sewing, gourmet cooking, and beading) and in revisiting old ones (such as photography and artwork) with a new focus.
John met his wife Beth at a dessert party hosted by mutual friends In June of 2002, and the following December, John proposed to Beth in the Bahamas in the form of a handmade children's-style storybook chronicling their time together. They married on the third anniversary of the dessert party on June 21, 2005, in a unique tropical-themed ceremony the two designed together and whose reception featured several of John's culinary creations.
The two currently live in Fairfax, VA, where they recently bought a home they dubbed "Chateau Papillon" after four members of their fauniferous zoo of pets (Didi, Chance, Pickle, and Marie). The two are always working on their latest creative ventures together, from jewelry making to writing to artwork to costuming to cooking and beyond—though at present, making Chateau Papillon over to their own home takes up a significant amount of their time.
