About

Jonathon T Cross has always been an odd duck. He struggled throughout his childhood with depression and mental illness and grew up in a turbulent environment. Socially, he was inept and spent most of his time trapped inside his overactive and neurotic imagination. It’s in those moments that the storyteller inside of him was born. Tragedy, tension, and stress, both real and imagined, fused within his mind and warped into tales, although most of his early writing came as poetry. In his teen years, he sought refuge from his darkness through alcohol and eventually controlled substances. Later, a near death experience inspired him to transform his life. He gave up the drugs, which erased his thoughts, and learned to appreciate who he was. He leaned into his bizarre sense of humor, took pride in his uncouth thinking, and learned to love all the things which separated him from his peers. Then he went back to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Arizona State, though he still refuses to seek a professional diagnosis for his lingering oddities. For him, a label is a limitation, and he doesn’t enjoy viewing the world in terms of what he can’t do. If overcoming his past, and the world’s deadliest drugs, taught him anything, it’s that outliers exist. He only cares to view the world in terms of what can be, without limitations, labels, or rules.
 

What type of music does Jonathon listen to?
Jonathon’s life blood is metal and punk, but he’s open to outstanding songs in any genre. There’s something amazing to be found in all forms of music, and if music speaks to you, then you should listen to it.
 

When did Jonathon decide to become a writer?
Jonathon considered being a poet in his youth, hanging on to the words of Edgar Allan Poe and writing his own gothic stanzas. When he got older, he took up guitar and his poems transformed into song lyrics. After that, it was all about sex, drugs, and rock & roll. Somewhere amid his addiction, he decided to write a book called Valley of the Spun. That was over 15 years prior to the release of Valley of the Spun. In 2017, he actually picked up a pencil (figuratively–he owns a computer and pencils are obsolete) and started writing. He then wrote and re-wrote, and erased, and re-wrote 4 books which were never released. 2023 is when he got serious, and decided it was time to release his first book, Valley of the Spun, and he will release additional books consistently henceforth.

How long does it take Jonathon to write a novel?
Jonathon pleads the 5th. In all seriousness, though, he could belt out a novel rather quickly if he hired someone to prevent him from re-writing it.
 

Where does Jonathon get his ideas?
Jonathon’s ideas come from his experiences, hopes, fears, dreams, expectations, reality, and education. Although his first release is grounded in reality, he contemplates life and existence in abstract terms. Expect quirky, existential, and even comical offerings in the future.

Where can I get signed copies of Jonathon’s book?
On this site! And through the That Spooky Beach Etsy page.
 

How do I get Jonathon to do a signing/appear at a bookstore?
Fill in the contact box below and we will reach out to discuss!