R. J. McBride

RJ McBride was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1941 and raised in Portland, Oregon. He served in the US Air Force on Okinawa and then in Vietnam during the mid-1960s, eventually returning to Oregon with his family and attending Portland State University as an art student. He painted in oils and worked in pen and ink, notably doing a 12-drawing series of The Barns of Orcas Island, used in a calendar by the Orcas Island Historical Society, and many pen-and-ink drawings of historical buildings on the Oregon coast. To support his art, he worked at a series of "jack of all trades" jobs over the years.

Eventually, he turned to writing. His first published book was a fantasy story starring a small frog named Freemont—Temple of the Rainbow. The Book of Ray, Book One—The Early Years is the first of three volumes of his memoirs. The second volume, The Book of Ray, Book Two—The Middle Years is now available in print and in Kindle, with Book Three to follow in 2018.

McBride now lives in Independence, Oregon, with his second wife Robin, who edits and typesets his books.

Visit his blog, The Life & Times of RJ McBride at www.rjmcbrideauthor.com.