John Twelve Hawks 2390633 221760602 2008-06-25T23:48:23Z BristolBoy 7374654 Google states linked site may harm computer. {{Inappropriate tone|date=February 2008}} '''John Twelve Hawks''' (also known as J12H or JXIIH to his fans) is the author of the 2005 [[dystopian]] novel ''[[The Traveler (novel)|The Traveler]]'' and the 2007 novel, ''[[The Dark River (novel)|The Dark River]]'', the first two novels in the [[Fourth Realm Trilogy]]. His identity is unknown. ==Biography== Both John Twelve Hawks and his American [[publisher]] state that he has never met his [[Literary editor|editor]] and that he communicates using the Internet and an untraceable [[satellite phone]], usually employing a voice [[scrambler]]. No photograph of Twelve Hawks has ever appeared and all biographical information about his background is based on four sources: *a 2005 article in ''[[USA Today]]'' *a 2005 interview by Rob Bedford in ''SFF World'' *a 2006 interview published in Germany in ''[[Der Spiegel]]'' *a portion of a 2007 ''[[Daily Telegraph]]'' article about popular writers Twelve Hawks' initial biography on the [[Random House]] website was only one line: "John Twelve Hawks lives off the grid." At some point in 2007, that line disappeared and was replaced with "John Twelve Hawks is the author of the ''[[New York Times]]'' bestseller, ''The Traveler''. ==Information== The following information comes from the few published sources. John Twelve Hawks is his "adopted" name, but in the ''Spiegel'' interview he states he is not an [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|American Indian]]. In the ''Spiegel'' interview he talks about visiting [[East Germany]] before the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]]. In the ''USA Today'' article, his response to a question about religion began with, "When I was in my twenties..." and when an editor asked him whether the "realm of hell" could be compared to current conditions in [[Iraq War|Iraq]], Hawks replied "it's more like [[Lebanese Civil War|Beirut in the '70s]]".In the ''Spiegel'' interview and in the ''London Telegraph'' article, Hawks states that he drives a 15-year-old car and that he does not own a television. <ref>{{ cite web | url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/04/01/svthrill01.xml&page=3 | title = Like Dan Brown, but better | author = David Thomas | date = 2007-04-01 | accessdate= 2007-04-01}}</ref> The ''SFF World'' interview indicates that Twelve Hawks lived in a [[Commune (intentional community)|commune]] and learned about literature by stealing books from a restricted university library and then returning the books the next day. In the same interview, he states he wrote ''The Traveler'' after passing through some sort of personal crisis. In the interview in ''SFF World'' Twelve Hawks claims that he has "no plans to go public" regarding his identity. <ref>{{ cite web | url= http://www.sffworld.com/mul/146p0.html | title = Interview With John Twelve Hawks | author= Rob Bedford | date= 2005-12-04| accessdate= 2006-08-12 | publisher = SFFWORLD.COM}}</ref> In the audiobook version of "The Traveler", there is an interview with John Twelve Hawks where he mentions that he has done martial arts for years. According to Twelve Hawks' agent, Joe Regal, "He lives in New York, Los Angeles and London," and ''The Traveler'' sets its story in all three of these locations. <ref>{{ cite web | url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-06-27-traveler_x.htm | title = Cryptic 'Traveler' has book world buzzing | author= Carol Memmot | date= 2005-06-27| accessdate= 2006-08-12 | publisher = USA Today}}</ref> ==Theories== A posting on Nightshade Books forum "from a girlfriend who knows someone who knows someone at Random House" postulates that Twelve Hawks has some kind of serious physical disability, which inclines him to remain out of the public eye.<ref>[http://www.nightshadebooks.com/discus/messages/53/4604.html Night Shade Message Board]</ref> Rumours have circulated on [[Usenet]] and internet conspiracy forums that John Twelve Hawks is in fact a pseudonym for some other published author. Candidates proposed include the following: *[[Stephen Hawking]] (a guess from science fiction author [[Vera Nazarian]]) *[[Dan Brown]] Note: In a statement given on the johntwelvehawks.com website, JTH stated that he was not Dan Brown. * [[Peter Gutteridge]]: A recent theory is that the author is the British crime-writer, Peter Gutteridge. <ref>[http://www.deadlypleasures.com/news.html Deadly Pleasures News] <!-- does not reference statement --></ref> <ref>[http://www.shotsmag.co.uk/columns/ripley/ripley1007.html Getting away with Murder] by Tom Ripley. Shots eZine.</ref> *[[F. Paul Wilson]], the American author. This is the theory of electronica composer and performer [[Moby]]. <ref>[http://www.moby.com/journal/2008-02-02/flying_back_france.html Moby blog]</ref> *[[Thomas Pynchon]], the American author. In an online Q&A session (30 Mar. 2008) J12H stated that "not a single theory" was true about his identity. <ref>[http://www.kiasworld.co.uk/John-Twelve-Hawks-Chat-Log 30 Mar. 2008 Q&A]</ref> ==Quotes== {{Cquote| Fear encourages intolerance, racism and xenophobia. Fear creates the need for a constant series of symbolic actions manufactured by the authorities to show that - yes, they are protecting us from all possible dangers.}} from page 602 {{Cquote|Awareness of the past seems ever less important as history is superseded by the present crisis. Most people can still recall the so-called Weapons of Mass Destruction used to justify the war in Iraq, but the fact that the WMD never existed seems to have disappeared from the day-to-day public discourse. We simply moved on - to a new threat.}} p. 602, 603 ==References== <references/> ==External links== * [http://www.johntwelvehawks.com/ Official Website of John Twelve Hawks] * [http://www.fantasybookspot.com/node/1848 Interview] at [http://www.fantasybookspot.com/ Fantasybookspot.com] 6/2007 * [http://www.sffworld.com/interview/146p0.html Interview] at [http://www.sffworld.com SFFWorld.com] * [http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2005-06-27-traveler_x.htm USA Today: Cryptic 'Traveler' has book world buzzing] {{DEFAULTSORT:Twelve Hawks, John}} [[Category:Year of birth unknown]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American science fiction writers]] [[Category:Mysterious people]] [[Category:Pseudonyms]] [[de:John Twelve Hawks]] [[es:John Twelve Hawks]] [[fi:John Twelve Hawks]]