Welcome to J.A. Bender’s official website. You can find information about my latest works, such as novels and novellas, or browse the blog for thoughts on writing, art, and other topics.

And please, feel free to follow me on  Twitter, or Instagram.


Current Projects:

The Forest.
The Mountain.

Inspired by an unexpected personal loss, the visual story of The Forest. The Mountain. is a journey of grief, loss and healing.

The story follows a wanderer who escapes into a forest desiring to be lost, but keeps encountering echos of civilization amidst the beauty of the natural world. The narrator’s journey from avoidance to acceptance is recounted through descriptive vignettes and impressionistic paintings and illustrations. Dreamlike, thoughtful and at times otherworldly, The Forest. The Mountain. marries the written word and painted image to create a thoughtful meditation on the human spirit.


The Shadows At Their Feet

The city can be a mysterious place full of unknowns and strange things. Ghosts inhabit traffic islands, ogres harass young women, and a mysterious killer is on the loose. But it is also a place where love, perseverance, and courage can shape even the darkest destiny.

The Shadows At Their Feet is a novel of interconnecting fairy tales and mysteries by J.A. Bender, recalling the magical realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez by way of Haruki Murakami and Paul Auster.