I am a writer, reader, woodworker and former engineer (if one can ever be a former engineer)

I write mystery, SF, and literary fiction.  I am the author of Walking Shadow, a SF/mystery novel published by Grand Mal Press in 2012 (available in hardcover, trade paper, Ebook formats and audio). I have published short stories in Shimmer, Story Station,Electric Spec, Crossed Genres, FMAM, Mystery Weekly, and many other magazines and anthologies.

I hold an MFA in creative writing from The University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program as well as an MS in computer information and control engineering from the University of Michigan and a MS in professional writing from National Louis University.

I have also attended Clarion, Viable Paradise, The New York Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore, and the Speculative Fiction Writing Workshop at the University of Kansas.

I also build furniture, mostly Shaker (sometimes reproduction, sometimes my own version) with a combination of hand tools and power tools.

I live outside Chicago with my wife and my rescue dog.

Please feel free to email me at Cliff@cliffjohns.net