Fun-Size Bio

James Ladd Thomas is a fiction writer from Alabama.

Pithy Bio

Born and bred in Alabama, James Ladd Thomas is a fiction writer who lived 29 of his first 31 years in Alabama. He holds degrees from the University of Alabama and Auburn University. Thomas has published over a dozen short stories in literary journals and two novels, all set in the South. He taught English for 30 years, including 27 years at Valencia College.

Healthy Bio

James Ladd Thomas is a fiction writer who was born in Dothan, Alabama, and has also lived in Prattville, Alabama; Huntsville, Alabama; Tuscaloosa, Alabama; Decherd, Tennessee; Coronado, California; San Diego, California; Auburn, Alabama; Orlando, Florida; and Sanford, Florida. He has published several short stories in literary journals, including Hawaii Review, RE:AL, Berkeley Fiction Review, First Class, Dead Mule, littledeathlit, Finding the Birds, and The Wax Paper. His two novels, Ardor and Lester Lies Down, were published in 2012 and 2022 respectively. Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree from Auburn University. He taught Freshman Comp at Auburn University for three years and Freshman Comp and Fiction Workshop for 27 years at Valencia College. He currently reads and writes fiction.

Jumbo Bio

James Ladd Thomas is a fiction writer who was born in Dothan, Alabama (as a toddler Thomas had his first taste of beer in a plastic tea cup), and has also lived in Prattville, Alabama (during 1966 Thomas accompanied by his two older sisters attended his first concert at a Big Bam Show featuring Lou Christie and Paul Revere and the Raiders); Huntsville, Alabama (in 1975 he attended an Elvis concert at the Von Braun Civic Center just to see what all The King hoopla was all about; during that same year Thomas attended a literary reading by Truman Capote at the same VBCC when during an emotional breakdown Capote was escorted from the stage; a third trip to VBCC in 1975 resulted in seeing a Linda Ronstadt and Earl Scruggs Revue concert).; Tuscaloosa, Alabama (on a Saturday in 1978 a friend, brother of Huntsville News sports columnist Mike Globetti, drove Thomas to Jerusalem Heights where the best BBQ joint in the world, Dreamland Bar-B-Que, sat with its screened front door and John “Big Daddy” Bishop holding court on his throne at the back of the restaurant, greeting the two college boys with a handshake, a “How you boys doin’ today?”, and a BBQ sandwich: ribs between two pieces of white bread) ; Decherd, Tennessee (Thomas and his wife Trish lived in a two-room cabin on the side of a mountain with their Golden Retriever Zack and black rabbit Harvey); Coronado, California (Thomas’s favorite residence where he and his wife would sit most every afternoon drinking a beer near the water’s edge while watching the boats and ships sail by on San Diego Bay); San Diego, California (a most memorable weekend included snow skiing at Big Bear Ski Resort on Saturday and playing volleyball at Pacific Beach on Sunday); Auburn, Alabama (Thomas attended with his wife an REM concert, “one of the finest concerts I’ve ever seen” and a literary reading showcasing Peter Taylor right after his novel A Summons to Memphis was published); Orlando, Florida (taught writing workshops with CENTAUR, Central Florida's oldest AIDS Services Organization, which encouraged people infected with AIDS to write about their own personal experiences with AIDS through stories, poems, letters, essays, or journal entries); and Sanford, Florida (during the early 1990’s the neighborhood was a bit indecent, flavored with streetwalkers, drug dealers, and vagabonds). Thomas has published short stories in the literary journals Short Story Bimonthly, Southern Exposure, Hawaii Review, RE:AL, Berkeley Fiction Review, First Class, The Blue Review, Snake Nation Review, Dead Mule, The Provo Canyon Review, littledeathlit, Finding the Birds, and The Wax Paper. He published his novel Ardor in 2012. His novel Lester Lies Down was published in 2022 by Vine Leaves Press. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and the literary anthology Best New American Voices. Thomas earned a bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management from the University of Alabama in 1981. In 1990 he earned a master’s degree in English from Auburn University. While attending Auburn University he taught Freshman Comp from 1987 to 1990. From 1990 to 2017 he taught Freshman Comp and Fiction Workshop at Valencia College. He estimates he workshopped approximately 5,000 student short stories. For over 20 years James organized and ran the Coffeehouse on the East Campus of Valencia College, a literary and music event where students and professors read their work and performed. Also, during his years at Valencia College, he brought the writers Bob Shacochis, Robley Wilson, Clyde Edgerton, Julianna Baggott, Barry Lopez, Tom Franklin, Beth Ann Fennelly, Richard Bausch, Steve Yarbrough, Vanessa Blakeslee, John Dufresne, Philip F. Deaver, Susan Lilley, Ryan Buynak, Rick Brown, Frank X. Gaspar, Meredith Walters, Kelle Groom, Lisa Lanser-Rose, Chuck Klosterman, Rick Campbell, Bob Morris and Jennifer Egan for readings and master classes. He currently reads and writes fiction, watches movies, plays golf with fellow writer John Calvin Hughes, takes walks with his wife and Adele, their daughter’s Golden Retriever, and jumps in the ocean.