J.L. HILTON is a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy who grew up in the ’70s and ’80s with Star Wars, Star Trek, Narnia, Disney, Atari 2600, Apple ][, D&D, The Twilight Zone, Heinlein, Bradbury, and the original Battlestar Galactica. She wrote fan letters to Buck Rogers start Gil Gerard at the age of 9 and programmed an interactive text adventure on her TI-99/4A at age 12.
She is the author of Stellarnet Rebel, 2013 EPIC Award finalist for best sci-fi ebook and winner of the Galaxy Award for Best Non-Traditional Romance, and its sequel Stellarnet Prince, both originally published by Carina Press. She also writes video game articles and fanfiction.
As Jewelsmith, she has a YouTube channel for mature gamers. As JunkWitch, she creates unique jewelry and crafts.
Since 2012, she’s participated in Illogicon, ConTemporal, StellarCon, ConCarolinas, Escapist Expo and other events, as an author, gamer, jewelry designer, and moderator.
Some milestones:
- Founded the Raleigh “Can’t Stop the Serenity” annual charity event, 2006 – 2025
- Featured in a Rings & Things article “Steampunk: The Ultimate in Vintage Fashion,” August 2008
- Contributed to Steampunk Style Jewelry during 2009, published in January 2010
- Won the “Narrate Your Own Twilight Zone” writing competition, 2021
- Appears in the credits of True Fear: Forsaken Souls Part 3 as a proofreader, 2025
Jen has a dusty old psych degree and a collection of eclectic skills including newspaper reporter, columnist, editor, calligrapher, tarot reader, poet, cake decorator, ice cream scooper, award-winning photographer, tying a cherry stem in a knot with her tongue, and remembering the lyrics to old songs.
Some of her real-life adventures include deciphering Mojave Desert petroglyphs with an archaeology professor, petting a tiger, visiting Thomas Jefferson’s bedroom, interviewing celebrity psychic Kenny Kingston, flying remote-control experimental military technology, taking high tea at the Huntington mansion, studying ancient Irish history at Duke University, and learning authentic Elizabethan dialect to work for a master perfume maker at a Renaissance Faire.
Author website: JLHilton.com
Jewelry website: JLHjewelry.com
YouTube gaming channel: Jewelsmith
AO3: Jewelsmith
Instagram: Junk Witch Shop
deviantART: http://jlhilton.deviantart.com/
Contact: J.L.Hilton.author (at) gmail (dot) com
FAVORITE MOVIES & MUSICALS: The Crow, Legend, Ladyhawke, Howl’s Moving Castle, Strange Magic, The Good the Bad & the Ugly, Tombstone, Midnight Madness, Hawk the Slayer, Edward Scissorhands, Beauty and the Beast, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, Camelot, Brigadoon
FAVORITE TV SHOWS: Firefly, Babylon 5, Star Trek: TNG, Deadwood, Twilight Zone, Vicar of Dibley, Detectorists, The Waltons, Columbo
FAVORITE ALBUMS & MUSICIANS: The Wall (Pink Floyd), It’s a Kind of Magic (Queen), Pop Goes the World (Men Without Hats), The Celts (Enya), Led Zeppelin, Eagles, David Wilcox
FAVORITE SOUNDTRACKS: Labyrinth, Skyrim, The Outer Worlds, Fallout
FAVORITE VIDEO GAMES: Skyrim, God of War (2018), Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 4, BioShock, BioShock 2, Dishonored DLC, Wytchwood, Wolfenstein II, The Forgotten City
FAVORITE BOOKS: Les Miserables, Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair, The Book of Uncommon Prayer (Katherine Mosby)
