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Though born on the coast of North Carolina, James considers himself a product of the Pacific Northwest. His family moved to Whidbey Island in Washington's Puget Sound when he was eight, then settled in Gold Beach, Oregon, when he was sixteen. His father worked as an equipment technician and manager for Bell, and then, General Telephone companies, which meant a military-like series of transfers every few years. James attended eight schools in five cities and three states before graduating high school. It was as a child playing and exploring the forests that grew so plentifully around his homes, that James grew to love the forest world, a world of shadow and quiet and mysteries hidden from the eyes of most humans. This world of the wild forest has had a tremendous influence on all his writing. It was also at this time--and probably for much the same reason--that he began to be fascinated by the art and cultures of Native Americans. This interest has also greatly influenced his fiction, particularly the Ni'il series and many of his short stories. When he was seventeen, James was diagnosed with a severe case of scoliosis. Treatment involved a month in the hospital, four hours of major surgery, then a year in a body cast and a brace. Naturally, this trauma has also had a major influence on his work. It was during his recovery that James first began to seriously write. While in high school in Gold Beach, James became a stringer for a local weekly newspaper, covering sports, as well as the editor of both his high school newspaper and yearbook. He attended the University of Oregon, first majoring in journalism, then switching to English Literature and creative writing. He received his B.A. in 1990. Since then, James has worked in the restaurant industry while honing his fiction craft. He has worked in several cities throughout Oregon as a cook, waiter, and manager and now cooks in a restaurant on the waterfront in Gold Beach and writes in his off time. James has had limited success with his writing, but realizes it often takes decades of hard work to become an overnight success. He has had two short stories published in minor journals as well as a handful of poems. Ni'il: The Awakening is his first novel and is currently being considered by Harbor House Publishing. He is also on the planning committee for the South Coast Writer's Conference held every February in Gold Beach, Oregon. James has three brothers and five nieces and nephews. He is single and lives in Gold Beach with a pacifist black lab named Mike.
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