{"id":485,"date":"2025-05-26T19:53:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-26T19:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/?page_id=485"},"modified":"2026-09-13T01:01:41","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T01:01:41","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/?page_id=485","title":{"rendered":"About MJ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Early Writing Journey<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When I was seven or so, I used to write that I was a cat so I could go on adventures with my pet felines. Fast forward to thirteen, when I read the Iliad<\/em> and became obsessed with Greek mythology. This was the moment the first stirrings of Epic of Helinthia<\/em> were born.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I explored many different career paths before deciding what I wanted to be when I grow up, from majoring in Psychology, joining the Air Force, college mentoring, project management, starting a History degree, editing, to cybersecurity for various IT companies and government agencies (for a full list of my hodge podge background, check out my LinkedIn<\/a> profile).<\/p>\n<\/div>

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GREECE<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Greece for our honeymoon was a huge inspiration for Epic of Helinthia<\/em>. Experiencing the climate, stepping inside ancient buildings and temples, and walking the layout of ancient cities immersed my narrative in a whole new dimension and reinforced my passion for ancient Greece. We visited Athens, Corinth, Mystra, and Sparta.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

How I Became a Full-Time Author<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I published Epic of Helinthia<\/em> in 2023, but I had yet to make authoring my full-time profession (though I had plans to “in five years or so”).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All of that changed in 2024 when Hurricane Helene dropped a tree on our SUV, which forced us to get a new van–a bigger one that is perfect for book tours. Then, in January 2025, the government program I was working got cut, and I joined the growing sea of unemployed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seemed like the universe was trying to tell me something.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>

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I listened.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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My narratives now are less about cat adventures and more about exploring the interconnectedness and inevitable conflict between humans, societies, and cultures, with the primary setting being ancient Greece. My characters are flawed, messy, sometimes unlikeable, but I strive to make them all relatable, real, and memorable. See my Books<\/a> page for more details.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Being a full-time author is full of challenges, but I love it! I have regular book signings every month. For a full list of upcoming events, see my Events<\/a> page!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I live in Augusta, GA with my hub, who I met in the Air Force, and our three awesome kids: Dante, Athena, and Artemis, doggo Petey, and kitty Hermes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Check out my designs on RedBubble and grab your Greek mythology merch!<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Shop designs on Redbubble<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Organizations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Forming a Writing Community<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

In August of 2018, I formed the Augusta Writer’s Critique Group (AWCG), which is still active today and continues to be a major catalyst for my success as an author. Early drafts of Epic of Helinthia<\/em> are completely unrecognizable from the final version, thanks to the amazing feedback from my group. AWCG is still going strong after 7 years and has helped many writers become published authors. We have recently switched platforms from meetup to heylo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Membership is free and open to all writers, regardless of where you are in the world or in your writing career. If you’re looking for a supportive, helpful, encouraging, and motivating writing community, check it out here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Augusta Writer’s Critique Group on Heylo.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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Hosting a Book Club<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Save Ancient Studies Alliance (SASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to shining light on ancient studies and advocating for their importance in the modern world. I am the Live Events host for the Monthly Book Club, where I interview authors who have published books (fiction and non-fiction) inspired by ancient history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find past interviews with Natalie Haynes, Hannah Lynn, Malayna Evans, A.D. Rhine, and others on SASA’s youtube channel here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re an author with an ancient history inspired book and want to learn more about interview opportunities, please contact me. I would love to consider your book for a future event! Learn more about SASA<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Early Writing Journey When I was seven or so, I used to write that I was a cat so I could go on adventures with my pet felines. Fast forward to thirteen, when I read the Iliad and became obsessed with Greek mythology. This was the moment the first stirrings of Epic of Helinthia were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_about_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_gallery_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_contact_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_events_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_video_page":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_portfolio_piece":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-485","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/PgX4is-7P","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":60,"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1534,"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/485\/revisions\/1534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjpankey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}