Hello! I’m Author and Anthropologist CJ Hahne

While CJ Hahne may seem like my penname, it isn’t! Throughout my life, I had always been referred to by my initials – something that many more people now, who enjoy my writing, will become familiar with. I was lucky to be born with a penname for this career, but it wasn’t always going to be that convenient. My original aspirations, since I was a young man in the 5th grade, had been in the field of astronomy. Yet even before my star-gazing days, I was an avid reader. My favorites in my youth included popular children’s novels such as Goosebumps and, humorously, Captain Underpants. I even wrote many “inspired” versions of these stories as a kid, pretending as though I was a true author. I would put them on paper, staple them, draw on the cover, and present them to my 3rd and 4th grade English classes (shoutout to Kathy Crane, Ann Richards, and Robin Frost!). It never fails to amaze me how far I’ve come since those days, and to revel in the fact that I’ve, essentially, returned to it.

Though Anthropology can be defined as my true passion, having graduated with a Bachelors Degree from George Mason University, the Wandering Order has ultimately become both my obsession and my drive. Although the scope of this project would imply otherwise, the answer as to how this all began is delightfully mundane: everything started with a text conversation I had with my sister about a hook I had for a film script, which she instead strongly encouraged me to turn into a novel. On that afternoon, January 20th, 2017, I wrote the first 2,000 words of The Wandering Order: Autumn Light - and here I’ve been, ever since, bringing my imagination to life.

The world of Mythical Modernism has taken a decade to build. I hope that all who read this series truly enjoy the fruits of my labor.