James Rollins is the pen name of the American veterinarian James Paul Czajkowski (born August 20, 1961), a writer of action-adventure/thriller novels. He gave up his veterinary practice in Sacramento, California, to be a full-time author.
Rollins is an amateur spelunker and a certified scuba diver. These pastimes have helped him to provide content for some of his novels, which are often set in underground or underwater locations.
Under the pen name James Clemens, he has also has published fantasy novels, including Wit'ch Fire, Wit'ch Storm, Wit'ch War, Wit'ch Gate, Wit'ch Star, Shadowfall (2005) and Hinterland (2006).
Biographical sketch
Rollins was born in Chicago. His father worked for Libby's canning plant, his mother was a housewife and mother of seven, and he lived what he likened to a Brady Bunch lifestyle.
He attended Parkway South Junior High School and then graduated from Parkway West Senior High School in Ballwin, Missouri, in 1979. His undergraduate work focused on evolutionary biology. He graduated from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1985 with a doctorate in veterinary medicine (D. V. M). Soon afterward, he moved to Sacramento, California, where he established his veterinary practice, licensed July 24, 1985.