James Jacob (J J) Mathews grew up with his nose stuck in books. A voracious reader in his youth, he devoured all of the science fiction and fantasy books he could find at the local library. J.R.R. Tolkien, Isaac Asimov, Ben Bova, Frank Herbert, Larry Niven, Voltaire, H. G. Wells and Greg Bear were some of his early influences, with many other authors added to his bookshelf as time went on. Broadening out to read more genres as an adult, he has always held a special place for fantasy and sci-fi.