I am an emerging, neurodivergent American author who’s had quite a time in living my life. I’ve worked in a French restaurant, served my country in the United States Navy (as a Hospital Corpsman stationed in Italy), and have had many, many psychic and spiritual encounters which color my fiction. I describe my fiction as “Mystic Fiction,” and it draws from religion, spirituality, and symbolism. It is influenced, as well, by the great magical realist authors.
Mystic Fiction allows me to draw from a wealth of thought and life experience, elevating my prose and themes. The aim is that, while reading my work, my readers will feel something of my sentiments when it comes to God–and maybe, just maybe, close the book while turning over a new page in their own Book of Life. If I can serve as an inspiration, I rest satisfied as a writer.
If I can trust my memory, I wrote something like my first “story” at the tender age of six. It was about a magical parrot and may or may not have had something to do with time travel. The details are naturally hazy, but I do recall loving the pure creativity associated with writing–this is the biggest “perk,” so to speak, which I enjoy from honing and perfecting my craft. Allowing my life experiences to influence my work has been the key to sustaining my creative output. Having written several novels by the age of thirty (one of which, Chemical Philosophy: A Novel of Discovery, was published in 2019), I have a solid grasp of my motivations as a writer of Mystic Fiction.
Writing is the ultimate salve: it heals wounds. Knowing this firsthand, I invite you to join the conversation. Write a book! You’ll learn about the depths of your being—soul, psyche, and heart. And, in a world where nothing is as it seems, a world of alienation and commercialization, your craft might just be a mote of light in our dark times.
James Tobin, Author 