J. S. James lives near Portland, Oregon with his family, including their “Velcro” Vizsla and furry red exercise machine, Maggie. He completed a popular fiction writing program in Washington, but grew up fishing and hunting in Oregon. River Run won first place in the Pacific Northwest Writer’s Association’s mystery/thriller contest, and was runner-up and “highly commended” in the Crime Writer’s Association’s Debut Dagger contest.