Ryan Johnson

Ryan Johnson has been writing stories since he was a child, starting with shameless fanfiction when he didn’t actually know what fanfiction or intellectual property rights were. He has since graduated to creating worlds and characters of his own, usually in collaboration with his co-writer and cousin, Jared Branahl.

Their first manuscript was a 300K-word epic fantasy that their 83-year-old grandmother dutifully read and annotated. That story, though fondly remembered, was not ready for prime time. Undeterred, they continued to dream up stories and peer pressure each other into pounding out pages. Producing seven children between the two of them didn’t do much for time management, but it did provide the inspiration for their debut MG/YA novel. Sitting beside his premature infant in the NICU, Ryan conjured up the premise of UNBOUND. In it, two boys stumble across a key that freezes time, giving them just the chance they need to save their brother from certain death.

Several years and stories later, Ryan and Jared have gotten older, but the thrill of discovering a world together has not.

Ryan lives in Missouri with his wife, four children, and three cats.