The Other World centers around a 12 year old boy who is bright, athletic, and full of mischief. Zac loves baseball and does well in school, although not fully up to his capabilities. As a baseball player, he is near the top of his team but could be better if he put all of his energy into his activities. Zac is content to just get by with all of his natural skills and talents.
One night, he has a very realistic dream that finds him in another time and place. The dream is so real that he is worried and feels he must tell his parents. However, he decides to keep it to himself knowing they would not believe him and would accuse him of exaggerating the story just as he has frequently done in the past. The problem is that the dreams continue to occur at different times and even begin to happen during his normal activities.
The dreams become more consistent and Zac finds himself actually interacting with the people in his dreams. Zac then discovers he is actually travelling back in time to help determine the destiny of our civilization. He learns of Martians travelling to Earth and educating the Mayan Indians in the ways of engineering and intellectual growth. He discovers conflict within the Martians about the future of the Earth’s population. And this conflict has grown within the Mayan culture as good and evil battle among the chiefs.
Zac, thrust into the middle of this conflict, must make choices to help a small Martian boy, and he does not know what to do. His mother helps him discover that he is a descendent of the Mayans and this is the reason he has become involved in the conflict.
Still not understanding any of what has happened to him, Zac is forced to try and learn the role he is destined to play with no help at all. He tries to do the right thing but is not sure what that is, or even how he ends up in these odd places and times. He struggles to understand his travels, the role he must play, the reason he has been put in this position, and how his choices will affect the world as he knows it in the present.
Zac is a smart, athletic, twelve year old boy who enjoys life, having fun, spending time with friends, and especially playing baseball. His world turns topsy-turvy one spring break when his dreams begin. The dreams are so real, he’s not sure if he’s dreaming or actually travelling to these unusual places. He knows no one would believe him so he keeps the dreams to himself as he wonders what to do.
One morning after a dream, he wakes up with black and blue marks on his arms and is stunned they are there. Could they have possibly come from his dream encounter with a pirate? Zac’s discoveries during his dreams help him realize he is in a battle for leadership among aliens and Mayan Indians but he struggles to find out just how he is involved. And how it might change the world as he knows it!
As the dreams continue and the situations become more dangerous, Zac learns he is descendant of a Mayan chief and has some unusual capabilities taught to the chiefs by the aliens. The problem is that he has no one to teach him about his capabilities so he struggles with his choices and the situations as he tries to understand just what is expected, or needed, of him. He does the best he can to make the right choices, always worrying and hoping each decision is the right one. His efforts and true heart help the good Mayan leaders maintain control and he returns to the world as he knows it.
After college, he began his career with a focus on small business and a desire to start his own high technology company. He earned a Master of Science degree in Decision Science and founded his first company in 1984 along with 3 friends. Between 1984 and 2008, he founded two additional companies and is now a Director for a technology incubator focused on helping startups navigate through the difficult tasks path to success.
The idea to write a children’s began on a business trip to Europe where he decided to ‘just start writing like I was telling a fairy tale’. JJ spent as much time as possible with his children and loved rough housing and playing with them at parks, fields, in trees, at the ocean, or anywhere ‘you could have some fun’. Now, he plays with his Granddaughter with the same vigor and excitement. The Other World reflects his great imagination and ability to tell a story that will keep you riveted to your seat.
JJ has several hobbies including golf, cooking, and triathlons. He has competed in numerous triathlons but loves the ones where he competes with his daughter the most. Golf is probably his favorite hobby and he can be found on the golf course frequently as the sun is setting over the horizon.