Accountant to author: James Dashner trumps the odds

Since leaving his accounting job last year, Mormon author James Dashner has been spending his days in libraries, bookstores and movie theaters.

But he can hardly be accused of idleness.

After all, Dashner is producing books that have him poised for arrival on the national youth fiction landscape. With a little risk, a lot of hard work and a vast imagination, he has transitioned from wishful college student to restless accountant to full-time author.

Accounting wasn't his forte, but it appears story-telling is.

"I'm a creative person trapped in an accountant's body, not the other way around," said Dashner, whose third fantasy series will kick off this fall with the nationwide release of "The Maze Runner."

Dashner's unlikely career as an author began as a student at BYU, when he felt "a sudden and overwhelming urge to write stories." He began writing but remained practical, earning his accounting degree and finding a stable job in materials management for the LDS Church.

Read the full story on MormonTimes.com.