At present I run a freelance organisational change and communications company, as well as being a professional author of off-centre fantasy with elements of grim dark, cosmic horror, and magepunk.
Born to modest working class beginnings I am the eldest of 5 children. I developed an appetite for sports at a young age and was a competition level swimmer and waterpolo player until my late teens, as well as playing soccer and volleyball.
Curious and creative by nature I leaned into my studies, as well as the arts. I wrote my first short story at the age of 7, and was painting and drawing early, adding music to the mix when I went to high school.
High school was where I found my love for Table Top Roleplaying Games (TTORPGs) enduring to today. I cut my teeth on Original Dungeons and Dragons (then it’s many iterations), Bushido, Traveller, The Fantasy Trip, Tunnels and Trolls, and Runequest. Each weekend saw me saddle up with my friends at gaming clubs and venies to roll the bones and create stories.
Game mastering at local convetions and with friends was where my love of story telling flourished. For deacades I focussed on creating stories in new worlds for my roleplaying campaigns before redirecting my efforts into writing short form and long form fiction.
On acceptance to Clarion South 2005, where I met some incredible writers and tutors who became new friends, a started taking writing seriously. I had short stories published in the same year as Clarion, and started work on a novel.
In 2010 I was fortunate to be signed up to the John Jarrold Literay Agency and John presented me in my 3 book deal with 47 North for The Echoes of Empire series. Echoes of Empire books were a ranked multiple times in the Amazon Top 10 Best Sellers in Fantasy, twice having all three books in the Top 10 at the same time. The Garden of Stones was nominated for the Gemmel Legend Award where it made the Top 20, and was a finalist in the final 5 for the Morningstar Award for Best Debut of the Year.
I continue my consulting work and am writing both fantasy and LitRPG novels and short stories.