About D.J. Mitchell
D.J. Mitchell is a pastor, recovering addict, and author writing from Harrisonburg, Virginia. He grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, and moved to Los Angeles at nineteen years old. Over the years, he’s worked in industrial plants, taught computer classes, prepared tax returns, and made artisan cheese. He graduated from Eastern Mennonite Seminary in 2019 and started Healing Refuge Fellowship, a ministry to people in recovery.
Among his formative experiences was serving for 18 months as a volunteer in Sri Lanka with the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement. He returned several more times over the next decade. In 1999, he joined a team that was working to end the civil war there, which helped bring about a cease-fire that lasted six years – the longest cease-fire of the war.
His writing, while varied in subject and genre, always seeks to build bridges. His popular, apocalyptic novel Ordinary World portrayed a rural family’s struggles in a fictional economic collapse– at least, it seemed fictional in 2014. Domino Theory, a hard-boiled mystery, is told from the perspective of an addict, and offers a frighteningly real glimpse into the mind of an addicted person. The Young Adult fiction “Travelers” series, his Sam Winslow novels, and his Young Adult novel The Mythics, explore conflict and peace. And Steve’s Grace examines the sometimes fine line between mental illness and religious devotion.
His forthcoming non-fiction book, The Soul of an Addict, is written for non-addicts who want to better understand the nature of addiction and how to help those who are addicted. Praised by scholars and social workers, this book is intended for a broad audience, and seeks to raise awareness of the needs of a recovering person to prevent more tragic deaths from drug and alcohol abuse.
D.J. is also very religious though, like his history, his faith is sometimes unconventional. Those who detect subtle religious themes in his work would not be mistaken.
Above all, D.J. enjoys telling a good story, and his varied background gives him a great foundation for doing so.