James Dashner

James Smith Dashner (born November 26, 1972) is an American writer known for speculative fiction.

Many of his books are primarily aimed at children or young adults.

James Dashner was born on November 26, 1972, in Austell, Georgia, as one of six children in the family.

He was raised a Mormon.

At the age of 10, he would type on his parents' typewriter.

He graduated from Duluth High School in 1991.

He moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Provo, Utah to study at Brigham Young University, where he received a master's degree in accounting.

Dashner released his first novel in 2003, titled A Door in the Woods.

Like many of his books, A Door in the Woods is a fantasy aimed at teenagers.

The story follows Jimmy Fincher, who notices person in the forest acting suspiciously.

What he witnesses then sets off a chain of events changing Jimmy's life.

A Door in the Woods became part of a series of books, known as The Jimmy Fincher Saga.

In 2004, a second and third book were released as part of The Jimmy Fincher Saga.

The second instalment was A Gift of Ice, which again follows Jimmy in his journey to save the world from The Stompers.

The third instalment of the series was released later in 2004, titled The Tower of Air.

A fourth and final book concluded the series, War of the Black Curtain, which was published in 2005.

Following the conclusion of his Jimmy Fincher Saga series, Dashner began working on two new series.

His 2008 novel The Journal of Curious Letters, first in the series, was one of the annual Borders Original Voices picks.

Dashner published The Journal of Curious Letters in 2008, which was the first book in the 13th Reality Series.

The book became a highly acclaimed children's book, receiving a Whitney Award the same year it was published.

In 2009, the novel was recognized again as a Borders Original Voices pick.

During 2009, Dashner released two more books.

The popularity of The Maze Runner led 20th Century Fox to obtain the rights in late 2010 for a film adaptation, with Catherine Hardwicke set to direct.

The Maze Runner appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list for the first time in late 2012, in the Children's category alongside dystopian novels, The Hunger Games and Divergent.

The Maze Runner remained on the list for years, making it one of the best-selling children's books of all time.

He is best known for The Maze Runner series and the young adult fantasy series The 13th Reality.

The first became known as The 13th Reality book series and the second was The Maze Runner series.

The Hunt for Dark Infinity was his second instalment in The 13th Reality series and The Maze Runner was the first book in a series of the same name.

In 2013, it was announced that The Maze Runner film has been pushed back to a September 2014 release.

During the same period, it was announced that the second instalment, The Scorch Trials, had been picked up by Fox as a potential sequel to the currently unreleased first film.

Dashner then released The Eye of Minds, which follows the life of Michael, a hacker employed by VirtNet.

The book went onto become the first instalment of The Mortality Doctrine book series.

In 2014, a film adaptation of The Maze Runner was released, followed by another two films in 2015 and 2018.

Collectively, the three films grossed an estimated $949 million.

The three films' collective box-office earnings make it the fourth-highest-grossing film series based on young-adult books, after the film series of Harry Potter, The Twilight Saga, and The Hunger Games, respectively.

In September 2014, The Maze Runner film adaptation was released and had a worldwide box office total of $348.3million.

Fox announced that the sequel to the first film would be released nearly a year to the date in September 2015.

Actor Dylan O'Brien was injured on the set of the film in 2015, resulting in lengthy delays to filming while he recovered.

A third film, The Maze Runner: The Death Cure, was set to be released in 2017.

In 2018, Dashner was dropped by his agent and publisher following accusations of sexual harassment; Dashner replied in a statement, "I am taking any and all criticisms and accusations very seriously, and I will seek counseling and guidance to address them."