J.R. Hare

The Voice Behind the Stories

"After 32 years, the story was still there — waiting. Some ideas refuse to be abandoned."

James Hare is the author of THE ORB, an adult science-fiction novel that blends interstellar adventure, political intrigue, conspiracy, mystery, and first contact into an expansive story set across the known universe. Hare's lifelong passion for science fiction developed during a career working with software startups, where extensive business travel provided countless opportunities to explore the genre. Airport bookstores became a regular destination, and he devoured virtually every science-fiction novel he could find. The long hours spent traveling between cities became an opportunity to immerse himself in distant galaxies, extraordinary civilizations, and the limitless possibilities of the universe. His literary influences include some of science fiction's most celebrated visionaries: Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Frank Herbert—one of his personal favorites—H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Ray Bradbury. He also drew inspiration from the imaginative universes created by Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas, whose storytelling helped shape his appreciation for compelling characters, ambitious ideas, and epic adventures. The journey to writing THE ORB began in 1990, when a sudden burst of creative inspiration brought the novel's central concept, principal characters, and underlying storyline vividly to life. In a single day, Hare conceived and wrote the foundation of what would eventually become his first novel. That original manuscript was written entirely by hand, and remarkably, he still possesses those handwritten pages more than three decades later. What began as an extraordinary day of creativity became a much longer literary journey. Over the following 32 years, Hare periodically returned to the manuscript, adding new sections, expanding the fictional universe, and developing the characters and mysteries that would ultimately define THE ORB. The project experienced long periods of inactivity, but the story and its characters never entirely left his imagination. Finally, in early 2026, Hare completed the first full draft of THE ORB—bringing to life a story that had first taken shape more than three decades earlier. Drawing upon his professional background in technology and his fascination with space exploration, advanced civilizations, artificial intelligence, and the mysteries of the universe, Hare has created a science-fiction adventure that combines familiar elements of the genre with an original vision of humanity's place among the stars. Although THE ORB was conceived as a standalone novel, its characters and expansive universe opened the door to a much larger story. Hare is now developing the sequel, THE ORB II: THE OTHERS, which explores the ancient civilizations, extraordinary technologies, and deeper mysteries introduced in the original book. After taking 32 years to bring his first novel to completion, Hare is determined to finish his second considerably faster.

A page from the original handwritten manuscript — dated 8/28/90.