James Dashner is an American author of young adult fiction, best known for his Maze Runner series. He was born in Austell, Georgia in 1972 and grew up in a small town near Atlanta. Dashner attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a degree in accounting. After college, he worked as an accountant for a few years before deciding to pursue his passion for writing. Dashner's first novel, The Maze Runner, was published in 2009 and was an instant success. It was followed by two sequels, The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure, and a prequel, The Kill Order. The Maze Runner series has been adapted into a major motion picture and a television series. Dashner has also written several other books, including The 13th Reality series, The Journal of Curious Letters, The Eye of Minds, and The Rule of Thoughts. His books have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide. Dashner is a popular speaker at schools and libraries, and he has been featured in many magazines and newspapers. He currently lives in the mountains of Utah with his wife and four children.