After years as a trial lawyer, and later as a business executive working in Europe and Asia, J.K. Franko has racked up a lot of air miles. His first trilogy—Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth, Life for Life—incorporates many locales he lived in or visited: Miami, Austin, Beaver Creek, the Bahamas, Mallorca. Yet his more recent novel, Killing Johnny Miracle is set primarily on a vineyard in Fredericksburg, Texas. Today, when many books go on to Netflix or big screen production, location matters as it can become a significant factor in production cost. Reading habits are changing as well, as attention spans grow shorter and other content—including social media—competes with the novel. Franko’s novels strike a balance between traditional storytelling and meeting the demands of today’s audiences and market realities.

NOTE: This meeting will be held on Sunday, March 24, 2:30-4:30 pm. CT, at the Frisco Library AND ONLINE VIA ZOOM

If you plan to attend virtually, please RSVP below by NOON CT on March 24 to attend via Zoom. The link will be emailed to you the day of the meeting.

J.K. Franko was born in Texas and spent his formative years in Corpus Christi —educated by Irish nuns who considered his conduct poor and academic effort lackluster. He misspent his youth (in the 1980s) at the video arcade, mastering hacky sack, and hanging at Swantner Park with friends, beer, and the iconic music of the decade.

His “Tour of Texas,” involved too many universities, including Del Mar College, Baylor University, University of Dallas, University of the Incarnate Word (where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy, cum laude), St. Mary’s Law School (securing a Juris Doctor, summa cum laude), and UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business (where he achieved an M.B.A. as a Kozmetsky Scholar). Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Texas at Dallas.

After a decade as a trial lawyer in Texas, Franko transitioned into the corporate world, taking up executive roles in Fortune 100 companies in Europe and Asia. While he has authored several non-fiction books and numerous articles, storytelling remains his true calling.

Franko’s first series—the Eye for Eye Trilogy—was completed in 2020 and was translated for international publication in 2023. His latest book, Killing Johnny Miracle, launch in English in October 2023, and will be available internationally in the fall of 2024.

Franko lives in Dallas with his wife and a fluctuating number of five or six dogs.