When he first blew up in our collective minds, Stephen King liked to give the impression he was a little on the weird side– a horror writer with a bent for the strange and the arcane. But you know what? He’s a really nice guy.

Jonathan Maberry, one of the finest horror writers in the world (and currently in big demand everywhere by virtually everybody) couldn’t be a nicer gentleman. It’s a safe bet we’ll never forget the day he agreed to be a columnist for Inveterate Media Junkies. I wrote him a rather long, rambling email one afternoon and 5 minutes after sending it, Jonathan wrote back saying, “I’m in!” Amazing.

Which brings us to John Edward Lawson. John is an accomplished Author (nine books of fiction and poetry), Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at Raw Dog Screaming Press. Raw Dog is the publisher of all types of fiction and poetry– including a great novel called Hellbender– from an author you may have heard of before: IMJ Music Columnist Jason Jack Miller.

Edward Bulwer Lytton wrote (in Caxtonia – Differences Between the Urban and Rural Temperment) “If the whole be greater than a part, a whole man must be greater than that part of him which is found in a book.”

I think that phrase sums up my feelings about John Lawson beautifully… Because he is also a really nice person. (Noting a pattern here? I guess most writers with a sense of the macabre are nice!) I’ve met and befriended many Screenwriters, Comic Book Writers, Novelists, Poets– even Lyricists… And John is as nice and considerate as they come. His extreme talent is only enhanced by his patience and care.

I know this because his column was actually supposed to begin many months ago. Various personal circumstances have stopped me from writing this introduction in the interim and John has done nothing but be kind through delay after delay. Most people would have moved on or, at the very least, berated me once or twice. But not John. No way. He took every blown deadline and unanswered email in stride and acted like he was happy to hear from me whenever I got a chance to reestablish contact.

That’s just the kind of person John Edward Lawson is. He’s also quite accomplished in many areas, as his impressive BIO will attest:

John Edward Lawson is an author, editor and poet living in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC. He is the author of nine books of fiction and poetry, and seven chapbooks. Over 500 of his poems, stories, and articles have been published in magazines, anthologies, literary journals, and newspapers worldwide. John was a winner of the 2001 Fiction International Emerging Writers Competition; award nominations include being a finalist for the Bram Stoker Award (2006, Superior Achievement in Poetry), two for the Rhysling Award, the Wonderland Award for Bizarro Fiction, two for the Dwarf Stars Award, and the Pushcart Prize.

His hobbies include travel, games of strategy, and collecting Hong Kong comic books. He has an intense interest in films. He has been involved in the production of several short films, including award winners Party Girl and Uberman: An Experiment in Consciousness. During the 1990′s he kicked around in the DC industrial-electro-goth scene in the band Dead Letter Office and owned Rack and Ruin Studio.

John is also a founding editor of Raw Dog Screaming Press. He spent four years as editor-in-chief of The Dream People online literary journal of bizarro fiction and poetry. Other editorial projects include three print anthologies, four e-anthologies, and freelance work for such companies as National Lampoon and Double Dragon Publishing.

Some have seen John zip-lining across valleys in Costa Rica or eating homeopathic beetles in the jungle; others have seen him take coffee with melted butter and no sugar; others still have seen him drinking black absinthe from the bronzed skull of a Tibetan monk. Apparently there is nothing he will not eat or drink!

Now you know why I wrote “How Lucky” we all are! John is a fantastic addition to the IMJ Family of Contributors… Someone we are extremely honored to associate with. Loyal members of the IMJ Nation™ have a real treat in store, as John’s first column– The Abominable Dump Bin™ with John Lawson– will be appearing later this week!

And please don’t forget to Welcome John in the comments below! It always makes Jose and I really happy when you do that!

Special Thanks to IMJ’s Resident Geek Girl– Heidi Ruby Miller– for introducing us! Thanks, Heidi!