Danny Johnson

Danny Johnson is a writer of fiction that tends to follow in the tradition of Southern authors whose characters often represent the most disenfranchised in society, examining their struggles to overcome in a world that does not acknowledge them to be of value. Johnson is an active member of the North Carolina Writer’s Network, SIBA, Authors Guild, and has worked with such authors as Ron Rash, Lynn York, Nancy Bartholomew, and John Gregory Brown. In the spring of 2014, he served as fiction judge for the Weymouth Center for Arts and Humanities. His stories have appeared in Fox Chase Review, Remembrances of Wars Past Anthology, South Writ Large, Sheepshead Review, and A Southern Journal, among others. He has been nominated for a Push Cart Prize in short fiction, and his short story “Dancing with My Shadow” was judged by Writer’s Digest as one of the 100 best in 2012. He was a quarter-finalist in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest in 2013. His debut novel, The Last Road Home, was published in August of 2016 by Kensington. He is represented by Rene Fountain of GHF Literary Agency of New York and Los Angeles. Johnson is a Vietnam Veteran and recipient of the USAF Distinguished Flying Cross. Find out more at http://www.authordannyjohnson.com/.

Ten Things I Can’t Do Without

1. My writer’s group, each member of which I trust for my critiques, and who have taught me so much about writing
2. My writer friends, from whom I draw so much inspiration
3. My wife of 42 years, who has allowed me to pursue this dream
4. My son, from whom I have learned much more than I taught
5. My best friend, Jan Parker, who would not let me get discouraged and was always there
6. My friendship with Ron Rash, who exemplifies the meaning of humility in the stark face of success
7. Memories of my mother and grandmother, two true southern women who showed me how to swallow the bitter pills in life with silence and courage
8. The great books of writers gone before that gave me escape and imagination when I struggled as a kid
9. Memories of all those who discouraged my dream—they give me determination
10. My little office where all my characters come to visit from time to time, wanting their stories told