Born on October 16, 1963, in Abington, PA, J. J. has lived in New York , New Jersey, Pennsylvania , Missouri, Indiana and Ohio.

He graduated magna cum laude from Marietta College (OH) with a BA in English before settling in the Roanoke Valley of Virginia, just up the road from Virginia Tech.

The son, grandson, and great-grandson of preachers and teachers, J. J. taught public high school English for twenty years to students who sometimes actually spoke it. J. J. is currently teaching in a wilderness program for at-risk young men.

J. J. met his wife, Amy Renee, at a high school football game at Victory Stadium in Roanoke in the fall of 1989, and their four-year courtship forms the basis of J.J.'s first novel, Renee and Jay. The first ten years of their marriage forms the basis for its sequel, Renee and Jay 2.