John D. Brown is an American author who writes thrillers and epic fantasy. (an autobiography from the author's official website)

Personal life

Brown was born in Utah and spent many years working in his family's floral and nursery business. He served as a missionary for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and graduated from

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-d ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a master's degree in Accountancy. After college, Brown began working in the tech industry and continues to work in the

ERP software Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is the integrated management of main business processes, often in real time and mediated by software and technology. ERP is usually referred to as a category of business management software—typically a sui ...

sector as a business consultant and education manager. He currently lives in

Laketown, Utah Laketown is a town in Rich County, Utah, United States. The population was 248 at the 2010 census. The town is named for nearby Bear Lake. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.0 square mil ...

, a ranching environment that inspired one of the core ideas in his debut novel.

Writing career

Brown explored writing as a student at

BYU Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day S ...

, studying with Darrell Spencer, Leslie Norris, Bruce Jorgensen, and Peter Macuck. After attending a transformational writing workshop offered by

Dave Wolverton John David Wolverton (May 28, 1957 – January 14, 2022), better known by his pen names Dave Wolverton and David Farland, was an American author, editor, and instructor of online writing workshops and groups. He wrote in several genres but was ...

, he began to submit his stories for publication. In 1996 he won a quarterly first prize in the annual

Writers of the Future Writers of the Future (WOTF) is a science fiction and fantasy story contest that was established by L. Ron Hubbard in the early 1980s. A sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, presents awards for science fiction art. Hubbard characterized ...

contest and published his first piece of fiction. His short story "The Scent of Desire" appeared in the contest's 1997 anthology of winners under the pseudonym Bo Griffin. In 2002 he attended his second pivotal workshop:

Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...

's Literary Boot Camp. After that workshop, Brown began to turn again to writing for publication, this time focusing on novels. In 2008 he signed a three-book contract with

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese sci ...

for an epic fantasy series which begins with ''Servant of a Dark God''.

Bibliography

Thrillers

* *

Epic Fantasy

Dark God series

* * * *

The Drovers series

* * *

Science Fiction

Short stories

*"The Scent of Desire" (published under pen name Bo Griffin in ) *"Loose in the Wires" (published in ) *"Bright Waters" (published in ) *"From the Clay of His Heart" (published in )

Nonfiction

Awards

* 1997 "The Scent of Desire":

, First Prize, 1997 (as Bo Griffin) * 2010 ''Servant of a Dark God'':

Whitney Awards The Whitney Awards are awards given annually for novels by LDS authors. Established in 2007, they are named after Orson F. Whitney, a prominent early member of the LDS Church. There are several categories for which novels may be nominated. The Whi ...

, Best Speculative Fiction Novel 2009 * 2021 ''Gun Runner'':

Dragon Awards The Dragon Awards are a set of literary and media awards voted on by fandom and presented annually since 2016 by Dragon Con for excellence in various categories of science fiction, fantasy, horror novels, movies, television, and games. Hist ...

, Best Military Science Fiction or Fantasy Novel 2021

Notes

External links

John Brown's Official Web Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, John 20th-century Mormon missionaries Brigham Young University alumni American fantasy writers American Mormon missionaries in the Netherlands 21st-century American novelists American science fiction writers Living people Novelists from Utah Latter Day Saints from California People from Bountiful, Utah American short story writers American Mormon missionaries in Belgium American male novelists American male short story writers 1966 births Latter Day Saints from Ohio Latter Day Saints from Utah People from Rich County, Utah 21st-century American male writers