John currently lives in the city of Exeter in the south west of England. At the age of 21 he lived for a year in a remote village in the mountains of Okayama, Japan, where he worked as a gardener, teacher and illustrator for the local newspaper. In his late twenties, he rekindled his love of art and completed a BA in Fine Art at Plymouth Art College and a subsequent MA in Fine Art from Bath School of Art. He self-published his first book, Raining Sushi and Donuts, in his early thirties, a piece of travel writing about a 1,600 mile bicycle ride across Japan. He published his first full length novel at the age of 40, the fantasy epic, James of Galendar. The sequel, Temple of the Kloven, was published the following year. Dark Matter is the first publication of his short science fiction work. These days, he divides his time between his two passions: writing and oil painting. You can find him most Fridays on his YouTube channel, News from the Gelding.