Jim Ruland caught the punk rock virus when his mom took him to see the Ramones when he was 15. He has been writing for punk rock zines like Flipside since the early '90s and has written for every issue of Razorcake, America's only non-profit independent music fanzine. He is the author of the award-winning novel Forest of Fortune and the short story collection Big Lonesome and is the curator of the irreverent reading series Vermin on the Mount.