Wayne was born in Newark and received a streetwise education growing up in the Jersey suburbs. At an early age, he began his study of music theory and the classics on an old spinet piano. Eventually, he made the transition to the Hammond organ, where he “hammered out” rhythm and blues with some of the area’s most popular bands. At sixteen, he debuted as a performing artist in nightclubs and staged venues and went on to compose music during the Golden Age of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
To honor a commitment to complete his college education, Wayne earned an undergraduate degree from Rutgers University. Soon after, he seized an opportunity in the business world and launched a rewarding career managing the design, construction, and maintenance of award-winning commercial buildings in Northern California. After several decades of directing successful operations in corporate America, he began to aggressively nurture his love for storytelling.
Wayne became established as an author following several years of creative writing study and literary editing. While traveling the world to gather information and inspiration for his first published, award-winning sci-fi thriller, Shifts, and its sequel, Senders, Wayne honed his skills as a photojournalist and founded Image to Art, an online gallery featuring an extensive catalogue of original natural world images, rendered into graphic works of art.
Wayne now resides in a suburb of Sacramento, California with his wife, and in close proximity to his children and grandchildren. If you’d like to contact Wayne for more information about upcoming projects, please fill out the form on the contact page.
Getting to know Wayne Hammer
Q: What’s the best part of being an author?
A: I’m in total control of the reality I create in my books. That’s liberating.
Q: What’s my secret dream for my book?
A: To receive positive feedback from my readers and use it as a source of inspiration.
Q: What inspiration lead to writing your first book, Shifts?
A: I toured the Maya ruins in Honduras, Belize, and Guatemala, and was fascinated with the culture; however, it was discussions with a geneticist about how DNA markers are inherited that crystallized the book’s theme. This novel is a product of those travels and conversations.