R.A. (ROB) JOHNSON WRITING
Welcome to my corner of the writing universe
Hello and welcome to my website. I’m an author who likes to mix fact, especially historical fact, with fiction. There are many hidden, sometimes obscure, yet powerful, questions in our collective history. What powerful secrets did the Knights Templar learn that led to them becoming the most important power in the Middle Ages? Who was the most important spy during the American Revolution known only by her code "355"? Why is the most heavily studied historical artifact ever discovered still so little understood? I like to invent answers to these and other unanswered questions, and spin a fine tale to do so.
From time to time, I may also suggest answers to other, more timely questions like how to address the energy needs of an ever-expanding world population.
I call myself a pangenrist, meaning I dip my toe into different genres--horror, mystery, thriller, historical--some of which are Young Adult, some are Adult Commercial, and some may even be Erotica. I love short fiction, so on my blog you'll find dozens of flash fiction pieces, most under three hundred words.
If you join my website, you'll receive my monthly newsletter via email, and have access to a ton of archived stuff exclusive to subscribers, including my newsletter archive, my short story collection, and other goodies.
So, I hope you enjoy reading my blog, and please consider joining my community at this link.
Welcome and Enjoy!
ABOUT R.A. (ROB)
My Next Phase
First, let me clarify something. My authorial name is R.A. Johnson, though in real-life I go by Rob. I started out using the name Rob Johnson on my books, but there are a lot of us out there, and it made it very hard to find me and my books online. Having a name like mine, Robert Johnson, is both a blessing and a curse.
The curse aspect is obvious. If you want to stand out in a crowd, having one of the most common names in the English speaking world makes it difficult. If you want to be anonymous, however, it is a blessing. Sometimes writers need to blend into the background to observe the world around them without being noticed. Other times, asking leading, but seemingly naïve, questions is the best way of getting to the heart of a story.
I've always been a writer in some form. I submitted my first story to "Boy's Life" magazine when I was twelve or so. It was rejected of course, and I collected rejection slips until my career as a software engineer forced me to switch from fiction to technical articles, whitepapers, and research papers. I've published many of those over my forty-plus year career, but as my retirement from the corporate world approaches, I've been bitten by the fiction bug again. Combining my love of history, technology, and good storytelling, I present to you, Thoughtful Reader, the efforts of my next career.
R.A. (Rob) Johnson
December, 2021
