J. Abram Barneck

Credentials

– Bachelors Degree in English with emphasis in Create Writing.
– 3 Years with Leading Edge Magazine
– Author of multiple blogs since 2009.
– LTUE Presentations
– Various Author Panels
– President of Utah Fantasy Authors

About me

I was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 27, 1977. I spent the first part of my life living just outside of a small Utah town called Roosevelt. As a child, I spent the summers in the cottonwood trees lining the creek that ran through our twenty-seven acres. I had a vast imagination and I spoke whatever I thought.

I grew up in the sticks but I also grew up with a computer. So I became a gamer/computer geek and yet at the same time, I liked outdoors and horses and shooting .22 rifles and just being a country boy. A lot of my friends have thick rural accents and I think I avoided a strong colloquial accent because of how many books I read.

I finished the Lord of the Rings at the end of fifth grade and I don’t think I have been the same since.

I attended Union High School where I played two years of basketball, four years of football (we won the State Championship my Junior year), and I ran track all four years. My senior year, I was the track and field region champion for the 110 Hurdles. I also ran the 100 M, the 200 M, the 4 by 100 M and became the Union High track and field MVP in 1995.

I started my first book when I was a junior and didn’t get around to finishing it until I was 18. I finished it shortly before my 19th birthday. It is yet to be published because, well, the writing was extremely poor (hey, I was only a teenager) and I don’t even really have the book anymore.

I graduated Brigham Young University with a BA in English an emphasis in Science Fiction and Fantasy/Creative Writing. I also minored in Spanish. At BYU, I joined Leading Edge, the Sci-fi/Fantasy magazine where I rose to be the Assistant Fiction Director, despite working full-time and going to school. My poem, The Sentinel, was published in Issue 48 under a pseudonym, Abram Jacobs.

I fell in love with Michelle, and married her on August 17, 2004. We have three sons, Aiden, Lincoln, and Jaxon. These boys are a joy to my wife and I, and they amaze us daily.

I like to read fantasy stories to my boys before bed. I’ve been telling them Dragon Stories for years (I actually started my Dragon Stories before Aiden was born, telling them to my niece, Ellie), and they thoroughly love them.

I always had three career dreams: become an Author, become a Software Developer, and become a Football Coach. I am currently a Senior Software Engineer at LANDesk and now that I have published, I will have fulfilled two of my dreams. I do however, keep up with sports. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Saints, I serve as the Stake Athletic Director (a Stake is a group of about six to ten congregations) where I organize sports leagues for both the Men and Young Men. In short, I am living my dreams.