Jim Nichols became interested in writing fiction while working as a ticket agent for a commuter airline in Rockland. Born in Brunswick and raised in Freeport, Maine, Nichols has worked as a bartender, pilot, skycap, taxi driver, fence builder, orange picker, ramp and ticket agent for a commuter airline, travel agent, and dispatcher for an air taxi service. His work has appeared in Esquire, Narrative, Zoetrope ASE, December, Paris Transcontinental (FR), From The Ashes (BR), Elimae, Germ, The Clackamas Review, American Fiction, Downeast, River City, Conversely, and Night Train. He has been nominated several times for Pushcart prizes, and his novel, Hull Creek, was the runner-up for the 2012 Maine Book Award for Fiction. In addition to his prolific short story work, he is the author of two previously published works of fiction: Slow Monkeys and Hull Creek.