Jim Hohenbary was born and raised in central Illinois before earning a B.A. in English Literature at Truman State University in Missouri. He continued to drift west after graduation, landing at Kansas State University to earn an MA in English Literature with a Creative Writing emphasis. In addition to his novel, Before the Ruins, Jim won the Phi Kappa Phi Forum poetry contest in Fall 2010 for his poem, The Witch.
His published short fiction includes: Pareidolia, a work of flash fiction, published in Vol. 10, Issue 8 of The Molotov Cocktail; The Skunk Ape, a work of short fiction published in Volume 1, Issue 1 of Carcosa Magazine; The Dummy, a work of long short fiction, published in the March 2022 issue of The Write Launch; and most recently, The Night Market, published in Issue 18 of Grim & Gilded.
His non-fiction essay, Pardon My French,: Excavating the Roots of the English Language, was published in the Winter 2019 edition of the Phi Kappa Phi Forum. His essay, What Haunts You About That House, was published in Issue 3 of The Dillydoun Review in April 2021.
Jim is also currently in the process of writing and researching for a follow-up novel. This sequel will take place in the same world as Before the Ruins and in the same time (about 1290 AD) but with its focus on the pre-Aztec world of Mesoamerica.
As a student, Jim originally thought of himself as an aspiring poet. However, his poetry often pulled strongly in narrative directions, and the transition to writing fiction evolved naturally from that. He particularly enjoys exploring the possibilities that exist at the intersection of myth, history, and the supernatural. You can read more of his reflections on writing in this interview with Blueberry Lane Books
He lives and works in Manhattan, KS with his wife, Laura.