JOHN SHIRLEY IS AN author, screenwriter, and songwriter. The author of more than thirty science fiction, horror, urban fantasy, and dark crime novels, he has garnered praise from many directions including the New York Times Book Review, Clive Barker, Peter Straub, William Gibson, the Washington Post, and Publishers Weekly.

He won the Bram Stoker Award for his story collection Black Butterflies. He was co-screenwriter of The Crow and has written for television shows such as Deep Space Nine. He has written one nonfiction book, Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas (Penguin Tarcher). His cyberpunk trilogy, A Song Called Youth, is known for its sharp geopolitical predictions and progressive point of view. His newest novel Everything Is Broken, is a near-future crime novel showing how "Tea Party" thinking could lead to social disaster.

Shirley has co-written eighteen songs for the Blue Oyster Cult and his own bands. Black October Records has recently brought out a double CD, Broken Mirror Glass, a selection of his recordings from 1978 to 2012.
- He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife.