
Author -- Novelist
Mobile, Alabama Area

Author -- Novelist
Mobile, Alabama Area
I'm Jeannie Holmes but feel free to call me J. K.
CRIMSON SWAN, my first novel, was recently purchased by Bantam for publication in Fall 2009. It's a dark urban fantasy/supernatural thriller novel that combines two of my favorite subjects: vampires and forensic science.
My published works include NUGGET'S STORY, a personal account of how I rescued and adopted an abandoned kitten, which appears as part of the WRITING MOBILE BAY: THE HURRICANE PROJECT anthology.
I had the honor of having two works published in ORACLE, a fine arts review magazine published by the University of South Alabama. A short fiction story, BIG RED: A LOVE STORY, and a nonfiction short story, SOMETHING BORROWED, were published in the Spring 2007 edition. An extended excerpt of CRIMSON SWAN's first chapter will be published in the upcoming Spring 2008 edition, along with a short story entitled WITH TEETH.
Published author in fiction and nonfiction genres with special interest in urban fantasy, supernatural thriller, and horror.
Master of Arts, English -- concentration in creative writing, 2007 — 2008
* Co-founder of USA Horror Club and former president -- a student group devoted to the scholarly study of the horror genre in literature, film, and fine art
Bachelor of Arts, English -- concentration in creative writing, 2003 — 2006
* Graduated summa cum laude, December 2006
* Co-founder of USA Horror Club and former president -- a student group devoted to the scholarly study of the horror genre in literature, film, and fine art
Associate of Arts, History, 1992 — 1994
creative writing, fiction, nonfiction, urban fantasy, supernatural thriller, horror, mystery, literary fiction, genre fiction, vampires, ghosts, paranormal, forensic science, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Lord Byron, John Milton, Robert Louis Stevenson, Victor Hugo, Jackson Pollock, Pre-Ralphaelites, Expressionism, Surrealism, M. C. Escher, Salvador Dali, Gustave Dore, art history, philosophy, Gothic novels, Southern literature, British literature, Romantic Movement, teaching, cemetery preservation, history, gravestones as art
International Thriller Writers, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Romance Writers of America, International Order of Horror Professionals, Alabama Writers Forum, Fangs, Fur, & Fey, Association for Gravestone Studies, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta National English Honor Society, Golden Key International Honour Society
* Received Bachelor of Arts degree in December 2006 -- graduated summa cum laude
* Recipient of Shelley Memorial Scholarship, Undergraduate Division 2006, for excellence in poetry
* Chosen to read excerpt of nonfiction essay entitled "Nugget's Story" (published in Writing Mobile Bay: The Hurricane Project anthology March 2006) at Alabama Book Festival in Montgomery, April 2006
* National Dean's List 2005 and 2006
* Participated in panel discussions at MobiCon (science fiction/fantasy genre convention), May 2007 -- "The Blob vs. Scream: A Comparison of Generational Horror Flicks," and "What's So Great About It? Overrated Genre Films."
* Served as judge for Romance Writers of America's "Golden Heart Award" 2006 and 2007
* Served on fiction editoral board for ORACLE, 2007-2008
* Recipient of Stokes Scholarship, Graduate Division 2007, for excellence in fiction
* Recipient of Dr. Patricia Stephens Memorial Scholarship 2008 for best graduate essay in a nonspecified area