The man who wrote Dragon Kindred lives in Central Florida. He has loved the books of JRR Tolkien since he was old enough to listen to the stories being read to him.

He lives with his brother in a coquina block cabin on a bluff along the Saint Johns River. The place is antiquated but there are high pine ceilings and crank-out windows with good views down to the river.

His cat is usually sprawled somewhere in his bedroom. She likes to lay up in the windowsill or stretch out on his unmade bed or hide inside the bathroom cabinet. The property has belonged to his family for five generations.

He does free-lance coding and keeps a citrus grove. He has a pineapple patch and a small kitchen garden just outside the backdoor with a few vegetables and herbs.

When he's not occupied by other things, he's doing what he loves to do, writing his books by building intricate plots, developing characters, and pursuing the themes of self-identity, friendship, and conflict between good and evil.

 

​SIX MINUTES WITH JOHN GRANT BUNNER:

Joining LitPick today for Six Minutes with an Author is John Grant Bunner, author of Dragon Kindred. The book has received LitPick’s Top Choice Book Award. John Grant Bunner is a freelance coder who lives in a cabin in Florida that has been in his family for five generations.

***How did you get started writing?

From the time I was a little, I loved hearing a good story. I was dyslexic and didn’t learn to read until the fourth grade. So, my parents read to me and I listened to tapes of Tolkien or CS Lewis’ tales. There is an art in the way a story is told and in the rhythm of the words. In the fifth grade, I wrote my first story and I’ve haven’t stopped writing since.

***Who influenced you?

The good storytellers who’ve written books that you go back to read over and over, turning the same pages again and again all your life because you never get enough of their stories.

***Do you have a favorite book/subject/character/setting?

I have so many favorite books and I like so many subjects/characters/settings that I could fill a book listing them all.

Here are a few:

The Works of Homer

The Lord of the Rings

 The Chronicles of Narnia

The Stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Many Mythologies of the World

Social Insects: Bees, Termites, Ants, and some Wasps

***What advice do you have for someone who wants to be an author?

You should plan out the main events of your story before you start. You don’t need to know every detail, but you should always know where you are in the story and where you’re going next. Planning out your ending is very important, as you’re always moving in that direction and can sprinkle little hints of what’s to come here and there.

***Where is your favorite place to write?

My favorite place to write is outside, on paper with a pen, on an overcast or drizzly day.

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John, thanks for joining us to share about everything that inspires you as a writer. Nothing beats writing outside without a computer.