Biograghy: John Adcox

"Arise and drink your bliss, for all that lives is holy."

-- William Blake

"As a dreamer of dreams and a travelin' man I have chalked up many a mile.
I've read dozens of books about heroes and crooks...
And I've learned much from both of their styles."

-- Jimmy Buffett "

Storytellers make us remember what mankind would have been like,
had not fear and the failing will and the laws of nature tripped up its heels."

-- William Butler Yeats

Over the course of a 20-year career in advertising, marketing, and new media John Adcox has held a number of titles including Executive Producer, Vice President of Digital Media, Creative Director, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Services, and even CEO. A few of his clients have included AT&T, Mercedes-AMG, Holiday Inn, Coca-Cola, UPS, SCANA, AutoTrader.com, Time Warner, Disney, Delta Airlines, 3M, Ford, and many more. In addition, he has hosted a radio show, acted professionally (although not since age 15), designed and written scripts for computer games, written a play for a professional theatre company, taught university astronomy, and written reviews and articles on topics including mythology, psychology, technology, religion, marketing strategy, and fantasy.

John is now concentrating on storytelling; he has a television pilot and a feature film moving slowly from development hell to development purgatory, and has completed two novels. The first of the novels, Blackthorne Faire, and a collection of Christmas stories, Raven Wakes the World: Tale for the Winter Holiday, are forthcoming. He is represented by the amazing Philippa Burges and Brad Kushner at Creative Convergence in Los Angeles.

His many, many interests include books and literature (he is insufferably proud of his library), religion and philosophy, mythology, the Arthurian legends, travel, baseball, science fiction and fantasy, marketing communications, Celtic music and lore, new media, theatre, and politics, not to mention astronomy and cosmological physics, as well as the lesser sciences.

John was knighted by King Richard of the nation/village of Hay-on-Wye (the famous book town on the border between England and Wales) and was ordained a minister on the Internet (he recently performed his first wedding). So he is properly the Right Reverend Sir John. Next, he hopes to find a small island nation somewhere that he can bribe to make him a Lord Admiral. He is very happily married to the fabulous Carol Bales (Lady Bales of Hay). The couple makes their home in Atlanta.

John was born on June 25, 1964 and is pleased and proud to use an Apple Macintosh Mac Book Pro. He hopes and prays that God never forces him to use a computer that's not a Mac (except to play Lord of the Rings Online). For more information, here are the Top Ten Trivial Facts About John Adcox.

Friends:

Some of my best friends, John Bridges, Bill Bridges, and Andrew Greenberg, are the "brains" behind Holistic Design, a game company. Check them out. It's cool, and a great way to explore mythopoeia, or personal mythmaking and storytelling, through play. Speaking of Master John Bridges, be sure to take a look at his artwork.

Fellow writers Leona Wisoker, Barbara Friend Ish, and Zachary Steele keep blogs.

Treska Cole is amazing, and runs this cool LARP game. Lee Verner has great taste in books. He's also a kind, smart man and a good friend. Jennifer Carlile, an old and dear friend, keeps this blog. Beware the vegetarian propoganda.

My old pal Jim Threlkeld wrote this article about Cumbria, a fascinating Celtic area of northwest England, and this article about breaking into the animation business. Another college pal, Steven Scheer, is building this favorite motorcycle journey scrapbook and journal site as well as this year-long, picture-a-day photo essay.

My pal Jim Wentzel wrote this book about the Beatles for kids. My chum Tim O'Laughlin wrote this book.My high school pal DeeJay Jensen keeps this blog, a fascinating look at early childhood education.

Jolie Simmons has a portfolio and Live Journal online. Lady Sid "Bubba" Taylor has this Live Journal. My pal Stephannie Tallent keeps this blog. My writing chum James Lock blogs here.

Richard Repp is a good friend and an excellent musician. My friend Bill Shaouy is in a band called Desmond Drive. They are fantastic. Speaking of musicians, I was a fan of Michaela Foster Marsh long before she became a friend.

My pal and one-time co-worker Brandon Haun has an online art portfolio. Check it out; it won the best of show award at his art school. Dave Allbritton is another former co-worker with a terrific portfilio. Pete Lawton also does great work. And he's a good guy, too.

My chum Allen Pittman offers this site for practitioners of various forms of martial arts, namely the Chinese Internal Arts of Ba Gua Zhang and Hsing I Quan, as well as herbal medicine, yoga, dance, music and other traditional arts.

Hobbies and Such:

I'm an avid reader... I have a personal library of more than 5,000 books (I'm very proud of that, and always try to work it into conversation) on a wide variety of subjects including fiction, mythology and folklore (especially Celtic and Arthurian), religion and philosophy, science, history, Disney, films, and fantasy and science fiction. Speaking of, Library Thing is terrific... my wife and I are (as of August, 2009) about three-quarters of the way throuh cataloging our own library.

As mentioned, one of my proudest ever moments was being knighted. (Yes, I am properly Sir John.) It happened on my New Years 2000 trip to England. I was dupped by Richard, the King of the independent free nation of Hay-on-Wye. Hay, a small town on the border between England and Wales, is famous for its bookstores--nearly 50 of them. Even the castle in the town centre is now a bookstore. If you get a chance, be sure to attend the Hay-on-Wye Literary Festival. I hope to go there when I die if I am good during my life.

Some day, these guys are going to build my castle!

Favorite contemporary authors? That's a hard one. Off hand, John Myers Myers (author of a wonderful gem of a book called Silverlock), Ray Bradbury, Mark Helprin, Pat Conroy, Lloyd Alexander, Guy Gavriel Kay, Charles de Lint, Umberto Eco, Wilton Barnhardt, T.H. White, Dan Simmons, C.S. Lewis and, of course, J.R.R. Tolkien come to mind. My favorite poets are William Butler Yeats, Walt Whitman, William Blake and John Montague. Check out the Library for links and more.

Let's see... I'm a fanatical baseball fan (go Braves!) and always root for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. I collect Mickey Mouse and adore Disney stuff. Check out my Cool Stuff page for links.

What kind of music do I like? Click here to find out! If you love live music as much as I do, join me for a beer at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia. Speaking of good beer, here's all the information you need if you're looking for the best here in Atlanta.

I watch way too much TV (favorites: Jeopardy!, Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Firefly, Frasier, Northern Exposure, M*A*S*H, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone, the quirky and wonderful Wonderfalls, the Star Treks, Cheers, and Twin Peaks). I also adore musicals (my favorite is Les Miserables) and never miss a chance to watch all those Christmas specials.

My favorite movies include The Lord of the Rings, Casablanca, most of the Disney animated classics (although I agree with the takes you'll find on Disney today here and here), the Star Wars movies, The Thin Man, The Princess Bride, The Big Chill, Errol Flynn's The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Muppet Movie and Field of Dreams.

Sean Connery was the real James Bond (although I confess I think Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig are great) and Clayton Moore was the real Lone Ranger.

Want to know what else I think is cool? Click here!

"Reexamine all you have been told at school
or church or in any book,
Dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
And your very flesh shall be a great poem
And have the richest fluency not only in its words
But in the silent lines of its lips and face and
Between the lashes of your eyes and
In every motion and joint of your body."
-- Walt Whitman

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
What is essential is invisible to the eye."
-- Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

Go Back to my Home Page.

Catch a sneak preview of my novel, The Widening Gyre.

Go to my Cool Stuff Page.

Visit my Books page for readers and writers.

E-mail me!