James Cardona

James has won multiple awards for his young adult science fiction and fantasy novels including three times being a finalist for the Wishing Shelf Awards and receiving the Independent Book Readers' Appreciation Group Award. He is planning on writing many, many more.  For his fiction, James tries to make his words come alive by pouring real-life experiences into his characters such that many of the details described in his books actually happened and are told from the perspective of someone who was actually there. He also enjoys integrating a hard science approach to his science fiction, feeling that all aspects of his story telling, although perhaps not currently possible, could happen once our technology evolves. James enjoys all things that can unleash the creative process including the typical drawing, painting and creative writing and the not-so-typical such as robotic design and writing computer code. He loves tinkering with computers, electronics and building robots and is the Lead Engineer for FIRST Robotics Team 316, a High School Robotics team operating out of Salem Community College. Additionally James helps organize and run the PSEG Nuclear Salem County Math Showcase which he created back in the year 2000, a math competition for students from grades four through eight, typically attended each year by approximately 500-600 students. James received his Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Delaware with a minor in Religious Studies. He lives in New Jersey and works as a Senior Test Engineer for PSE&G Laboratory and Testing Services.