Media

Short

John Michael Layne is a West Virginia author whose fiction explores survival, resilience, and the fragile threads that hold communities together after disaster. A former U.S. Marine, Layne draws on real landscapes and technical research to create grounded post-apocalyptic stories, including his debut novel Seasons of Ash, set in the mountains of Appalachia.

Medium

John Michael Layne is a West Virginia author who writes post-apocalyptic fiction rooted in real places, practical survival, and the quiet strength of ordinary people. His debut novel, Seasons of Ash, imagines a world reshaped by the eruption of Mount Tambora and follows survivors navigating the ash-covered landscapes of the American Midwest and Appalachia.

A former U.S. Marine, Layne brings a grounded perspective to stories about resilience, leadership, and community under pressure. His work blends technical research, outdoor experience, and Appalachian settings to create immersive survival narratives.

Layne is the founder of Blue Hollow Press and is currently continuing the Tambora series with the upcoming novel Republic of Ash.

Long

John Michael Layne is a West Virginia author whose work explores survival, leadership, and the fragile bonds that hold communities together when systems fail. His fiction blends real-world research with grounded storytelling to imagine how ordinary people navigate extraordinary crises.

Layne is the author of Seasons of Ash, the first novel in the Tambora series. Inspired by the real eruption of Mount Tambora in 1815—the event that caused the “Year Without a Summer”—the novel follows survivors crossing an ash-covered America and rebuilding fragile communities in the mountains of Appalachia.

A native West Virginian and former U.S. Marine, Layne draws on a wide range of experiences that inform his writing. Before turning to fiction he worked as a ski instructor, truck driver, coal miner, finance professional, and marketing director. Those varied paths, combined with a lifelong connection to the Appalachian landscape, shape the practical realism and human focus of his stories.

Layne is the founder of Blue Hollow Press, an independent publishing imprint dedicated to character-driven fiction rooted in place and resilience. He is currently working on the next installment of the Tambora series, Republic of Ash, while expanding the world of the novels through additional stories and projects.

He lives in West Virginia.