J.C. Bruce is a journalist and author of a series of books recounting the misadventures of Alexander Strange whose weird news column, The Strange Files, is published by Tropic Press.
The four books chronicling Strange’s adventures are now available for sale online. They are, in sequence, The Strange Files, Florida Man, Get Strange, and Strange Currents. They are available as hardcovers, trade paperbacks and eBooks at all major online book retailers. The next book in the series, Mister Manners, will be published soon.
Bruce encountered Strange when they worked together at the Phoenix Daily Sun, which, sadly, like so many newspapers these days, has seen its shelf life expire. Alexander now lives in Naples, Florida aboard his fishing trawler, the Miss Demeanor. Bruce live in a house.
Before Bruce began occupying his time deciphering the notes Strange has kept of his various assignments, he was the journalist-in-residence at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and earlier in his newspaper career served as an editor, managing editor, or reporter at, among other places, the Naples Daily News, the Dayton Daily News, the Austin American-Statesman, the Longview News-Journal, the Miami Herald, the Palm Beach Post, the St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times) and the Tampa Times (now deceased).
Once, he even served as the press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a congressman who ended up getting indicted and sent to prison.
This job hopping has allowed him to experience varied swaths of our great country, sometimes without flashing blue lights in the rear view mirror. (Next to the law of gravity, his favorite statute is the one about limitations.)
He nailed down a Master of Arts degree from Antioch University somewhere along this journey, and a bachelor’s degree from St. Edward’s University. He also served time at the University of South Florida.
A perpetual joiner, he's a current or past member of various professional organizations including the Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, Sisters in Crime, the American Society of News Editors, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the Société pour L’étude des Nouvelles E’tranges et des Phénomènes Paranormaux.
Bruce is a former director of the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and a former director (and lecturer) for the Antioch Writers’ Workshop. He's served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes and the National Journalism Awards, and is a member of American MENSA, which he likes to mention so you’ll think he's smart.
And last week he scored a word worth 134 points in Word Chums.
