Wayne Thomas Batson

Wayne Thomas Batson is the Bestselling author of fourteen adventure novels including the fan favorite Door Within Trilogy, the pirate duo Isle of Swords and Isle of Fire, the 7-book fantasy epic Dark Sea Annals, and a supernatural thriller for adults called GHOST. A middle school Reading and English teacher for 23 years, Batson loves to challenge-and be challenged by-his students. So, when he began writing stories to supplement the school district's curriculum, it was his students who taught their teacher a lesson. Batson's students were so taken by one of the stories that, over a thirteen-year span, they pushed him to make it into a full-length novel. That story became The Door Within. Since then, Batson's students continue to be his frontline editors. Says Batson, "Two things you can count on from middle school students: Intelligence and Honesty. Kids are so much more perceptive than a lot of us 'Big Folk' give them credit for. And when something's not right in the story, they'll tell you about in very clear terms." With over half a million books in print, Batson believes his books appeal to so many kids and adults because, at a deep level, we all long to do something that matters, and we all dream of another world.