John’s Staff Sergeant Crew Chief in the USAF in 1968 encouraged him to write when he was just 19 years old. Staff Sergeant was almost illiterate, so John wrote his daily reports and necessary log entries to look better to his superiors. When John discharged and entered public service as a first responder, he found creative report writing, instead of the usual dry factual missives, gained more attention. A creative search warrant affidavit in a criminal case seemed to break the ice with DAs and judges, paving the way to approval. After gaining more experience, John wrote several articles for municipal newsletters. In 1982 he submitted a 2000-word article about a unique training program he developed and the piece was published in the American Fire Journal - he received $106 for the effort. Six more followed and John gained a positive reputation in his career fields - law enforcement and the fire service. A college-level fiction writing course steered John towards the old adage, "Write what you know" - so I did. Completing a mystery novel in one year, his writing career was interrupted when John was arrested, wrongfully, in December 1991. Regardless of John’s trials, Points of Origin, the novel, was published in 2002 and has been in print since then. His memoir, Points of Truth was published in 2012. John continued getting published in various prison-related publications and in 2023 was hired by the Mule Creek Post, a prison newspaper with a circulation of 95,000+. John has nearly 200 articles published by 2026, in eleven different publications, including the L.A. Times, Prison Life and Wall City magazines, and has won several awards. The latest award was second place in the American Prison Penal Press Contest 2025 which earned John’s facility $500.