History of Jur

The Jur novels came about during slow night shifts in France. Around 1965 I was a squad leader for a bunch of Army MPs in Southern France. At night, while working the desk and my patrols were keeping law and order, to pass the time I created plots and characters attempting to write fiction. Nothing became of my interest in writing until 1970, after a tour in the jungle of Vietnam, and those plots came back to me. I wrote the first two novels during that year, and sent the first to publishers. Basically, my main characters were an Army Green Beret and a French archaeologist, who accidentally fall through a time tunnel to the Jurassic Period. When the first novel didn’t go anywhere I set the manuscripts aside. James Reasoner suggested I change the Green Beret and set the beginning after the Stock Market Crash of ’29. The rest is history. The sequence of the novels are: “Jur: A Story of Pre Dawn Earth”, “Savage Land of Jur”, “Lost Land of Jur”, “Queen of Jur”, “Treasure of Jur”, and “Drums of Jur”. "Pangaea: Eden's Planet" actually takes place in the Permian Period, prior to the Jurassic, but it is the story that truly begins the JUR series.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Tom's Interview

My Interview at Art Sippo’s Reviews is now up. We talk about two of my books, PANGAEA; EDEN’S PLANET (First Realm Publishing) and COLD WAR HEROES (NTD). Art is a good speaker, and familiar with books. He’s a retired Army Lt. Colonel, and medical doctor, and his interviews are always interesting. Ginger and I are not good speakers, so be warned (g). Plus, my southern accent will drive you to drink; and I’m getting very forgetful in my old age. Thankfully, Ginger helps me out when I falter (g). For those who wish to tune in go here http://artsreviews.libsyn.com/webpage

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Pangaea: Eden's Planet Review

Title:  Pangaea: Eden’s Planet
Author:  Tom Johnson
Publisher:  First Realm Publishing
ISBN:  10-1497340748
           13 978-1497340749
Genre:  Science Fiction
4-Star Rating

A team of scientists led by Colonel Evelyn Peterson is headed for Mars to scout sites for future settlements. Earth has been devastated by a nuclear war and much of it is now a wasteland. The future of humanity can only be assured by setting up a new home on Mars.

Trouble arises shortly after the flight has lifted off, trouble in the form of a strange storm. This was something they were totally unprepared for and had little hope of survival.  However, they did and when they come out of It, they find their destination is no longer Mars. In fact they are stranded back in time.

How they handle their new problems is guaranteed to keep you reading. This reader found the combination of time travel, space flight, a visit to Earth’s past, and living conditions irresistible. It kept me wondering how things would work out and will there be future tales about this place and people as they settle in. I loved the descriptions of the animal life and plants growing in various areas of the place their ship landed.

This is a story any sci-fi fan will truly enjoy. The talented author, Tom Johnson, has crafted a believable world; new terrors for characters dropped into it, and pulls the reader into the story so we become one of the members of this crew.

I am very pleased to recommend Pangaea: Eden’s Planet as a fun read you won’t want to put down. Not only will it teach us about our prehistoric periods, but have us looking for other books by this imaginative author and wanting to know what will happen next on Pangaea.  Will we get to see it decimated by meteor storms or will volcanoes split the large continent into smaller ones that we would come to recognize as our homes of today?

Enjoy. I sure did.


Anne K. Edwards

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Tom Johnson Interviewed by JoAnna Senger


Tom Johnson, author of “Pangaea: Eden’s Planet” with First Realm Publishing was interviewed recently by JoAnna Senger at http://joannasenger.com Drop by for a visit and leave a Comment.