J.D. Strange

James Newman, who also writes under the name J.D. Strange, was discovered, three weeks old, in a charity shop next to the Chatterton Arms public house, Kent, England. Strange escaped a series of foster families before joining the circus aged thirteen. Here he came under the influence of the infamous Russian Cannonball Captain Popov who showed Strange the ropes and in no time the Strange teenager became a circus utility man juggling flaming batons, taming the big cats, while throwing knives at spinning beauties, one of whom, Olga, Strange married briefly. Divorced from the Hungarian heiress and financially secure Strange set out to study comparative linguistics at the University of Zurich. Graduating with a first degree Strange rejoined the circus, eventually winding his way to Nepal and then India. Following a run-in with the Nicobar Police in 2001 Strange boarded a vessel docked at Port Blair fatefully bound for Bangkok. Immediately finding his feet in the tropical metropolis Strange worked as a private detective instructed by corporate clients and jealous housewives. It is here he became the writer he is now celebrated as creating the JOE DYLAN fictional character and other pulp fiction franchises including Johnny Coca Cola’s LIZARD CITY, a pirate series PORT of THIEVES, and his own tragic memoir THE CIRCUS.

Strange continues to live and work in Bangkok, Thailand, where he nowadays writes screenplays and produces films.