John M Donovan is a novelist, stand-up comic, copywriter, actor, composer, and all-around decent fellow. He's been writing all his life, with mixed results. His first story, an untitled Western, was written at the age of four and had roughly 30 words. "I didn't spend a lot of time on character development back then," he says.A 1982 graduate of Wabash College, Donovan majored in English and minored in not taking things seriously enough. At the time he was concentrating mostly on short stories, but in the summer of 1983 he completed the first draft of his first novel, Bob Smith, which now resides in his mental stack of books to rewrite someday. "It's got interdimensional travel to a land where Herman Melville is obsessed with the psychedelic music of the 1960s," notes Dono. "I'm hoping this market doesn't get saturated before I have a chance to publish that one.

"Donovan entered the world of advertising as a junior copywriter in 1985, and has on numerous occasions fought the industry's attempts to suck the soul out of him. Working for various advertising agencies in Illinois and Iowa, he has written some award-winning print ads and broadcast spots for funeral homes, hospitals, tourism bureaus, state lotteries, and purveyors of fine hog semen. Seriously.A native Hoosier, Donovan now lives in Ankeny, Iowa, with his wonderful wife Cybil. He has two exceptional daughters, two brilliant stepsons, three amazing grandchildren, and what he believes are many more novels on the way.