John Dover, Author

Whether on the stage or on the page, I tell a story.

The Beginning

Around the year 2012, I had the idea to expand my storytelling by combining it with music. Thus, a character was born who encapsulated my love for pulp, noir, action, and—of course—Scotch whiskey…

Johnny Scotch

The Adventures of Johnny Scotch started as a hybrid of comic book art and classic noir fiction, culminating in the short story “Ella.” From there, I developed a four-part comic book series with the artist Dan Schaefer, and as I continued to write, Johnny Scotch’s world expanded into three novels.

Blending Worlds

To connect my two artistic worlds—writing and music—I teamed up with my friend and colleague, Thomas Barber. We collaborated to blend his musical composition with my spoken word to create the “Johnny Scotch Vignettes”: an hour-long show that combines my words and characters with Thomas’s 70s-style soundtrack.

Part of honing my writing craft included contributing to a number of horror anthologies. One of my concepts inspired the publisher, Alucard Press, to commission an entire anthology based one my contribution and world-building: “Tales From the Braided Pony.”

Once Upon A Fang in the West

I continued to develop the Braided Pony world into my first full-length novel: An ode to spaghetti westerns (and vampires!) called “Once Upon a Fang in the West,” put out by Not A Pipe Publishing.

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Vampires and Whiskey

“Once Upon a Fang in the West” led to a partnership with Skunk Brothers Distilling, who crafted a special edition, custom-labeled, barrel-aged moonshine called “Aftermath,” which perfectly embodied the pulpy and violent flavor of my written word with the smooth warmth of Skunk Brothers’s whiskey.

Where you Can Read my Work