Biography...

    Brought up on Thriller, Twilight Zone and Outer Limits as well as comics like Tales from the Crypt, James has kept all his dark friends chained up inside his imagination only to let them out little by litte in his novels and short stories.

   For 38 years, James enjoyed a productive career as a music educator.  He taught at the university level as well as high school.  The longest stretch was 16 years at Winona State University in Minnesota.  He is also a composer with works published by Zames Music Co. Two CDs of his chamber works are available from iTunes and CDbaby.com. Retirement gave way to a new creative outlet–writing.

    His new writing career began with pieces in the magazine Marathon and Beyond. His articles were about running the Norwegian Wilderness Marathon and the Wyoming Double Marathon. Additionally, James was writer and publisher of a local newsletter in Minnesota on RVing. His foray into the area of writing novels began with his first full-length book-- Milford Spitz and the Very Fast Machine. "I’ve discovered that letting my imagination run amok and getting it down on paper is addictive.  Now if I can get the voices to stop, I’ll be fine."

     In January 2010, SynergEbooks released James' second novel, Reveka's Return. This paranormal romantic vampire thriller is the first in the series, The Crimson Pursuit. Book 2, Reveka's Revenge was released October 2010. In August 2011, SynergEbooks released a print version of Reveka's Return and September 2013, Reveka's Revenge came out in print format.

     In 2012 James signed contracts with Imajin Books for an ebook and print release of his novel Heckel Casey--a thriller set in a post-apocalyptic world. And in 2013, his sci-fi, techno-thriller, TATS was released by Amazon.

     Additional writing includes several horror short stories which are intended for an upcoming collection. Sequels are planned for Milford Spitz, book 3 in The Crimson Pursuit series, and TATS.

   Hoch's short stories have appeared in Horror Zine, SNM Horror magazine, Flash Fiction Anthology 2012 (Pill Hill Press), 69 Flavors of Paranoia, Sanitarium, SNM Books of Blood V, and Dark Eclipse.

    James retired from Winona State University in May 2008 to begin a vagabond existence as a fulltime RVer.  Along with his wife Zoe and dog Ruby, the three travelers are loving the freedom to roam.  You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.