Jeffrey J. Mariotte was a middle child, born in the middle of the country in the middle of the century. He didn’t stay there for long, but made his first move at age 6, from Park Forest, IL to Paris, France. Since then, he has lived in Arlington and Reston, VA; Worms and Schriesheim, Germany; San Jose and San Diego, CA; and Douglas, Sierra Vista, and Gilbert, AZ.
He graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Radio/TV/Film. He has worked delivering the Washington Post, in a comic-book shop and a fast-food restaurant, selling encyclopedias door-to-door, as maintenance supervisor for a large regional shopping center, and as a technical editor and a legal editor. He was the manager of Hunter’s Books in La Jolla, CA when his first fiction was published. He has been VP of Marketing for WildStorm Productions, Senior Editor for DC Comics, Editor-in-Chief for IDW Publishing, a cofounder and co-owner of independent specialty bookstore Mysterious Galaxy, and a freelance writer and editor.
The first time he was paid for writing was during college at San Jose State University, when he took third prize in a regional short-story contest. His first professionally published writing was an interview with musician/producer/former Monkee Michael Nesmith, published in Bay Area Music (BAM) Magazine. His first professional fiction sale was the short story “The Last Rainmaking Song” in the influential science fiction anthology Full Spectrum.
Since then, Mariotte has written well north of fifty books, including thrillers, westerns, mysteries, horror, fantasy, and more. Three of his novels have won Scribe Awards for Best Original Novel, presented by the International Association of Media Tie-In Writers. He’s also won the Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic-Con and is a co-winner of the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America. He has been a finalist for the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, the Peacemaker Award from the Western Fictioneers, the Bram Stoker Award from the Horror Writers Association, the International Horror Guild Award, and for his comics writing, the Harvey Award and the Glyph Award.
He is passionate about-among other things-reading, the deserts and mountains and forests of the American West, modern and historical, politics, photography, independent bookstores, and whatever else strikes his fancy at any given moment.
He’s married to author and writing partner Marsheila (Marcy) Rockwell. They live with their family and pets in Arizona.