The author, J Roth, lived for two years on the edge of the Karakum Desert in the post-Soviet vestiges of Turkmenistan and another two on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in the samurai-shadowed countryside of Japan. In both cases, he was the only Westerner living in a rural community.
Those experiences, combined with encounters he had during solo excursions to more than twenty-five countries in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, all animate The Dragonfly Hunter series with a realism within the fantasy. Through imaginative alchemy, elements of his actual experiences overseas surface in the young protagonist’s frequent encounters with the various inherents (‘foreign cultures’) who live in the world of the Dragonfly Hunter.
The Dragonfly Hunter series may be J Roth’s first novels, but he’s written more than a dozen original plays staged in the Twin Cities, including a shadow play adaption of The Dragonfly Hunter. He’s also written dozens of lyrical songs (not to mention many instrumentals). To find out more about these endeavors, visit: http://walkingboxes.com/j-roth
J lives with his wife and son in the Twin Cities.