James D. Witmer is the author of A Year in the Big Old Garden, Beside the Pond, and The Strange New Dog, and serves as managing editor for StoryWarren.com.

As a boy, James wanted to be a policeman. Well, he wanted to be Batman, but he would have settled for being a detective, a ranch-town sheriff, or a deep-woods park ranger. This is all probably due to his love for outdoor adventure stories by Wilson Rawls, Jim Kjelgaard, and Louis L’Aamour (and many others), and it eventually led him to a BA in English literature from Grove City College.

James is a homeschool dad, and counts reading, bird-watching, and gardening as his hobbies. He lives in a big old house with his lovely wife, three terrific kids, and a fuzzy pet rabbit.