Milton James earned his B.A. in English from U.C.L.A. and his MLIS from San Jose State. He has worked as a sailor, a bartender, a buyer for bookstores and a librarian. His poetry has appeared in Westwind, Onthebus, Caffeine and previous issues of The Thieving Magpie. He has finished the poetry collections Escape Songs for Ritual Lovers, Principal Flame and Cuts of Orpheus. He is currently working on the collections Before Los Angeles  Fell into the Sea and Volta. He lives in Long Beach, California with his wife Ann and dog Zelda and their cat Ziggy.