Stanley Johnson is an ordinary man, widower, early retiree, biding his time until Social Security kicks in. An ex-prostitute, heroin junkie, just trying to hang on to life. Her Sugar Daddy is wealthy, powerful, mysterious. The couple in the apartment across from Stan. His ex-employer. His landlady. His would-be girlfriend. The ghosts of his wife and son. The upcoming presidential election. And a plot so convoluted, so sick and twisted, it will rock the world. The President’s Nemesis. They will stop him if they can.
I began writing fiction during the Cold War while working at Argonne National Laboratory near Chicago as an electronic technician. I took night classes toward a technical degree, but discovered I excelled in courses involving written communication. I received an Atomic Energy Commission scholarship and was able to complete a BS degree from Purdue University in Math, Computer Science, and English, in 1974. While at Purdue University, I won several literary awards in fiction.
After a layoff from Argonne National Laboratory, I took advanced courses in writing and literature and changed my career from technician to technical writer. While employed at Pansophic Systems, Inc., followed by Computer Associates, both computer software companies, I published many short stories in journals and commercial magazines. In 1975, I was the Collins Fellow at the Indiana University Writer's Conference. In 1985, I won a PEN Syndicated Fiction Award. I also taught non-credit creative writing classes at Purdue University Calumet Campus and was a member of the South Side Creative Writers in Chicago
I began writing novels in the 1980s. My Eastern European roots and environmental concerns shape my novels. My experience during the Cold War holding a top-secret security clearance added a mystery/thriller aspect to my fiction. The Canadian publisher PaperJacks published my first novel SUNSTRIKE, a paperback, in 1986, then promptly went out of business. Medallion Press published my environmental novel GRAND TRAVERSE, a hardcover, in 2005. In it I tried to create a realistic portrait of our frightening near future.
After GRAND TRAVERSE, I was asked to do thriller fiction and my following hardcover novels from Medallion Press are:
THE PRESIDENT'S NEMESIS, Political Thriller, 2006
FINAL STROKE, Thriller, 2007
CHERNOBYL MURDERS, A Lazlo Horvath Thriller, 2008
TRAFFYCK, A Lazlo Horvath Thriller, 2009
Although my most recent novels are thrillers, I have tried to maintain literary standards in my writing, especially when it comes to writing about human relationships, politics, and society. A personal tragedy in my life has also changed the direction of my writing. My son committed suicide at age thirty after a long battle with depression and addiction.
I am a Chicago native now living in West Michigan. I'm a member of the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and the International Association of Crime Writers North America.
