Ever since he was a young child, Jon Gerrard has been a
fan of science fiction. In his home he
has amassed a large collection of science fiction books and films. Fortunately for his wife, the advent of
e-books has allowed her to reclaim a good portion of their house. One of his aims in life has been to become a
science fiction author. After many years
of research and work Jon published his first novel, Shadowplay: Book One of the Starcrown Chronicles. The first of a planned trilogy, Starcrown follows the adventures of
Cordass Pell, a young man who just reached his twenty-first birthday only to
find his life turned upside down. He
awakens on a prison transport with no memory of who he is. The only person who seems to know him tells
him that he has been sentenced to life in prison on the frozen penal planet of
Demerl. But before the transport ship
can reach its destination it is attacked by pirates and Pell and the other
prisoners are sold to a sadistic owner in a distant star-system. Further complicating this is the fact that
someone keeps trying to kill him.
Starcrown
represents Jon’s exploration into the moral debate of what is right and
wrong. It is a coming of age story in
which this fundamental question plagues the main character throughout the
series. The books however are written as
action-adventure stories because the first and foremost purpose of a story is
to entertain the reader.
Before turning his hand to writing science fiction, Jon
co-authored two books on another of his passions, the martial arts. Written with his friends the Park brothers
who were involved with the selection and training of the U.S. Tae Kwon Do
Olympic teams, the books Tae Kwon Do
and Black Belt Tae Kwon Do quickly
became the reference standard for students of the art. For their efforts the book Tae Kwon Do was included in the prestigious
Books for the Teenage List catalog by
New York Public Library. Along with
writing about the martial arts, Jon has been a private instructor for nearly
twenty years. The majority of his
students have been law enforcement officers ranging from local police officers
to federal agents, all of whom came to him because they wanted to feel
confident in their ability to protect themselves on the street.
Mr. Gerrard holds an undergraduate degree in psychology
from Princeton University and a master’s degree in education from Lehman
College. He is currently working as a
teacher in New York where he lives with his wife and two daughters. When he isn’t writing or conducting martial arts classes
from his home on Long Island, Jon enjoys skiing, scuba diving and riding his
motorcycle.