If you haven’t guessed, that’s a pen name.

Why? Because like a lot of authors I have a full time job in another industry which doesn’t mix well with writing fantasy novels. Yet.

Writing has been a part of my life for a long time, first in the shape of bad poetry and soppy short story romances written in my personal diary as an angsty teenager. Then in academic fields, and research (which was extremely painstaking and boring, I do not recommend).

Whilst recovering from burnout after an incredibly stressful year or two in work, I bought myself a laptop after waking up from a wacky dream (likely triggered by late night reading of the latest fantasy books). I just knew I wanted to try writing some of those ideas into a book.

I never dreamed that I would make it to a first draft, never mind a first draft of over 120k words. It’s taken a few iterations to get started, and a complete change in where the story sits, but here we are, draft 4 and counting.

I never anticipated the joy writing would bring back into my life. I also never appreciated the amount of work and time and passion authors need to invest in their manuscripts before they even reach a publisher or sit on a shelf. I can tell you I now look at books in a completely different way…