Mentored by Carol Roper, an award-winning writer and recipient of the Office for Advanced Drama Research Rockefeller Honorarium, John wrote his first play "In the Shadow of a Dream," which was selected by the Midtown International Theatre Festival for production at the Workshop Theater Main Stage in New York City. In 2007, He was awarded the Ontario College Postgraduate Certificate in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers, under the guidance and direction of the Canadian novelist and short story writer Sandra Birdsell. John is a founding member of the Writers Studio in San Diego, California, and an active member of the Dramatists Guild of America. John sees his students as collaborators in the construction of knowledge and firmly believes that every student can master the course content in an environment that scaffolds learning and understanding. He teaches Grammar Lab for the Copyediting Certificate Program.