World Watcher: Remlok

J. B. Remlok is a professional pilot with a writing problem.Born in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains and raised among Pennsylvania's rolling hills, he has loved a good story since childhood. He delighted in outrageous (and oftentimes inappropriate) tales from his grandfather, comforting bedtime stories from his grandmother, and any movie his parents would let him watch. But of all story-telling mediums, he's always held a special fondness for books. As a young boy, he devoured fantasy series such as Rowling's Harry Potter, Collins's Gregor the Overlander, Flanagan's Ranger's Apprentice, and Paolini's Eragon, though he often couldn't read them as soon as he'd like. Being the youngest of three children, he was at the bottom of the pecking order when it came to reading a new book (his mother would buy only one copy, then read it herself before allowing her children to read it, beginning with the oldest). He vividly remembers stealing away to a hidden nook with the latest release to read as much as possible while no one was looking.At the age of 16, he discovered a new love to rival that which he held for reading: flying. He first took to the sky in a 1940s Aeronca Champion on a warm June morning, and the moment the airplane's wheels left the bumpy grass strip, he was hooked. He became utterly engrossed in aviation and decided to study Aerospace Engineering in college. With such interests, it should come as no surprise that science fiction began to creep into his hitherto exclusively fantasy diet. During his breaks between flying and studying, works such as Dashner's The Maze Runner, Collins's The Hunger Games, Forward's Dragon's Egg, and Corey's Leviathan Wakes captivated his imagination.While his consumption of fiction has never abated, his interest in writing only emerged in his late twenties as a byproduct of boredom on a long sea voyage. What began as a creative outlet to fill his days became an obsession into which he poured the things he loved: fantasy, sci-fi, and aviation. The result (after much refinement) was Cloud Captain, his first novel.J. B. Remlok lives in the American Southwest with his wonderful wife, who keeps his life from falling apart while his head is in the clouds. As a professional pilot, he's flown everything from supersonic jets to helicopters to gliders. He holds both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in engineering. For J. B. Remlok, writing oscillates between a hobby and an obsession, and he does it for one reason: to awaken the childlike wonder buried in all of us.