Oddly, then, one of the first fantasy novels I remember reading was The Dark Is Rising, by Susan Cooper (later made into a terrible juvenile movie). These days we would call Cooper’s series Young Adult Contemporary Fantasy and looking back on it, it influenced me a lot. It has that mix of modern day life, hidden history, and magic which failed to hit popular culture until the early days of Buffy and Anne Rice. Of course, Cooper’s characters spend their time around places I could actually visit in Cornwall, and South East England, and mid-Wales. In fact, when I went to university in Aberystwyth, it was partially because some of Cooper’s books were set a few miles to the north around Tywyn.
I got into writing through roleplaying, however, so my early work was related to the kind of roleplaying game I was interested in. I wrote science fiction when I was playing Traveller. I wrote “high fantasy” when I was playing Dungeons & Dragons. I wrote a lot of superhero fiction when I was playing City of Heroes. I still love the idea of a modern world with magic in it and I’ve been trying to write a novel based on this for a long time. As with any form of expression, practice is the key and I can look back on all the aborted attempts at books, and the more successful short stories, as steps along the path to the Thaumatology Series.
Recently I took the big step of quitting my day job and taking up full-time writing. My favourite authors are Terry Pratchett, Susan Cooper, J.D. Robb, and Kim Harrison. Kim’s Hollows books were what finally spurred me to publish something, even if the trail to here came by way of Susan, back in school, several decades ago.
For More Information
Take a look at the Witches and Ray-guns blog: http://witchesandrayguns.wordpress.com
Links to book vendors and other information can be found there, along with a view on what I’m up to and when it might happen.
Other Books by this Author
The Thaumatology Series
Thaumatology 101
Demon’s Moon
Legacy
Dragon’s Blood
Disturbia
Hammer of Witches
Eagle’s Shadow
Ancient
Dragonfall
The Other Side of Hell
For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll
Vengeance
Anthologies in the Thaumatology Universe
Tales from High Towers’ Study
Tales from the Dubh Linn
The Aneka Jansen Books
Steel Beneath The Skin
The Cold Steel Mind
Steel Heart
The Winter War
The Greatest Heights of Honour
The Lowest Depths of Shame
Hope
The Ultrahuman Books
Ugly
Shadows
Hunting Mink
Frostburn
Guardian
True Dark
Liberty
Royal Flush
The Unobtainium Books
Kate on a Hot Tin Roof
The Reality Hack Books
Reality Hack
The Fox Meridian Books
Fox Hunt
Inescapable
DeathWeb
Criminal Minds
Emergence
The Ghost in the Doll
Eden Burning
Dominance
The Hellas Find
Dancing with The Devil
The Princeps Venator Books
Hunter’s Kiss
Be My Valentine
Blood Magic
The Gunwitch Books
Gunwitch: Rebirth
The Children of Zanar Series
The Zanari Inheritance
The Misfits Series
Misfit Magic
Misfit Witchcraft
The Sondra Blake Series
The Vanity Case
The Shil the Huntress Books
The Eyes of the Huntress
The Twilight Empress Trilogy
The Iron Princess
The Last Emperor – coming when it’s ready
The Death’s Handmaiden Series
Death’s Handmaiden
Bitter Wind – April 2020
Other
The Girl Who Dreamed of a Different World
Table of Contents
Part One: The Girl Who Would Not Duel
Part Two: Student Body Politics
Part Three: Addictions
Part Four: Quintessential Terror
Part Five: Death’s Handmaiden
Epilogue
