James Bonnet

James Bonnet is an internationally known writer, teacher and story consultant. He lives in Los Angeles, but he grew up in New York City and has been a professional writer for more than 40 years.

He started out as an actor in the Tony Award winning hit Broadway show, Sunrise at Campobello, creating the role of James Roosevelt, the eldest son of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He landed his first professional writing assignment when he was 23, writing for the television series, It's A Man's World.

Ever since that time he has been creatively driven by only one thing: discovering the secrets that underlie great stories. He was elected twice to the Board of Directors of the Writer's Guild of America and has written or acted in more than forty television shows and features. Recently he was honored with a Writer's Guild of America award for his writing contribution to the hit television series, Barney Miller.

The important new ideas about story in his book Stealing Fire from the Gods: The Complete Guide to Story For Writers And Filmmakers had a major impact on writers in all media. In his latest book, Cracking the Story Code, he thoroughly analyzes fifty of the world's greatest stories and the extraordinary secrets they reveal about ourselves, our psychology and our evolutionary path.

Author’s books