Noah Chinn was born in Oshawa, Ontario, and has never really forgiven it for that. Shortly after university, he moved to Vancouver, where he met his future wife, Gillian. He then spent the summer bicycling across Canada, which she thankfully didn’t misinterpret as him trying to get as far away from her as possible.
They moved in Japan for three years, where he taught English yet managed not to learn a word of Japanese. It was during this time that he had a successful cartoon series called Fuzzy Knights, which centered on the exploits of toy animals playing Dungeons & Dragons, and an evil hamster trying to destroy them. Some have called this a cry for help.
He later moved to England with dreams of making it big as a writer. Unfortunately, in the way aspiring actors move to Hollywood and end up as busboys, the closest he came to literary success was working at several bookstores – each of which mysteriously closed down after his stay.
After writing several more manuscripts and moving back to Canada, he found more success in the North American market...
...until his publisher closed down.
But a little thing like that isn't going to stop him.
To combat the hordes of internet algorithms and publication pigeon-holing, he had to split himself into two separate people, one for his science fiction and fantasy, the other for his contemporary stories and mysteries. They flipped a coin to see who would get the "J.D." added to their name. Both have it on good authority to be moderately amusing fellows, with a colourful history and increasingly confusing present.
His work has been published in Amazing Stories magazine, Knights of the Dinner Table magazine, The Globe and Mail, and others.
He, his wife, and their ferret now live in Vancouver.
He tends to wear a hat.