Author Interviews

Robert Obodai Nicholas Torto is a civil engineer with over twenty years of experience in sustainable travel, managing public and private sector projects from concept, design and consultation through to construction. He not only designs cycle lanes but is arguably the face of London’s Tweed Run: an annual event ‘with a bit of style’ in which thousands take to the streets in vintage and cycle through London’s iconic landmarks.

James Berrywood & Steven Aspen are a dynamic writing duo from the heart of Liverpool, combining their love for fantasy, psychological thrillers and historical dramas in books like their debut novel Stranger In the Mind.

Eric Still is a young, black, and neurodivergent author who specializes in horror and fantasy but dabbles in various other genres of writing as well. He grew up in Los Angeles, California, and has always enjoyed writing and envisioning stories to transcribe onto paper/computer screens.

Leona Marie is a writer with over twenty years of experience as both a teacher and school leader. She has a BSC in Psychology and a Master’s in Primary Education. Her poetry and short stories are heavily inspired by her experiences in the classroom, as well as the challenges of balancing a busy day job with making time for creative pursuits. Hence her own description of herself as ‘Teacher by Profession, Writer by Passion.’

L.Q. Lark is writing her debut novel, World of Ruin, a fantasy full of action, secrecy, betrayal, and developing relations. She has a lot of hobbies and little time for them all. A lover of sports, animals, nature, and music, she loves being outside but also loves staying in to game, watch movies, and read.

KJ Reed is an English indie author who writes primarily dark, psychological fiction. Although she is an English author, KJ writes America-based fiction since her love for all things dark and twisty comes from growing up watching and reading American TV and fiction. She lives with her amazing husband and stereotypically nightmarish ginger cat, Milo, and has loved writing since she could put pen to paper.

M. E. Rose is a budding science fiction romance author with a passion for blending futuristic adventures with heartfelt love stories. With aspirations to expand into space opera, M. E. Rose wants to transport readers to distant galaxies while exploring the complexities of human (and sometimes alien) relationships.

Always having a book and pen in hand, E. J. Kingdom is convinced that they are from a dark fantasy realm. They host The Writers Den and graduated with an English and Creative Writing degree, and want to progress into becoming a Further Education English teacher.

A full-time personal trainer and competitive powerlifter, Cal started writing seriously in 2017, drawing inspiration from history, his time spent practicing mixed martial arts, and of course, books. Cal lives in Chicago with his wife, Taylor, and his dachshund, Rizzo.

Graey (she/they) is an indie writer who spends much of her time painting, napping, and hyper-fixating on worldbuilding fantasy realms. As a queer person with an invisible illness, Graey lives an empathy-centric life and writes themes that challenge the idea of Self and Community. While she does not shy away from gruesome dark fantasy, she loves to add soft, queer love and representation. Life is a bit of darkness mixed in with the light, after all. BLOODWATER will be her debut novel.

JC is the middle of three generations of authors, both mother to and daughter of an author! She reads in every genre she writes, plus so many more. JC prefers hardbound books, but will read in any format she can get her hands on. She does own a Kindle and uses it whenever she happens to finish the other book(s) she carries absolutely everywhere with her.

Dr. Ting-Wei Wu, known by her peers as Tina Wu, was born in Taiwan and moved to the United Kingdom in 2001. As a little girl with a big imagination, the tale of the Quest for Qieta series has lived in her mind since the age of sixteen. At last, over a decade later, she has put pen to paper to bring the universe of Neputa to life.

Before I became a writer, I was an English teacher for over thirty years, and prior to that a painter – a successful one. As an esteemed writer of fiction, particularly of the novella, I have now returned to my greatest love. Whilst I was a teacher, I was lucky to have re-read Shakespeare’s tragedies, the poetry of Blake, becoming embroiled in the fine Victorian description, bestowed by Dickens. As a writer, I think it is always the history and culture before us that truly form the words on a new page, and that connect which equates the first stroke of a paintbrush and the first line of a book which cements the foundations.

Lucas grew up in Central Texas, where he spent most of his free time reading or playing outside. Despite his plans to the contrary, he went to college in his hometown and remained there afterward. In that time, he rediscovered the love of reading that academics had suppressed, and he married his high-school sweetheart. With his philosophy degree, Lucas had planned to go to law school, but a global pandemic and a host of other factors made him decide against it. Now, between his full-time office job and writing on the side, he still finds plenty of time to spend with her, their cat, Luna, and their dog-who-thinks-she’s-a-cat, Coco. They still live in their hometown.

Jake R T Brown is a tattoo artist from Essex, England, who turned his hand to writing in 2017 to fulfill a lifelong dream and self-published his first book, The World Spins Madly On. In 2023 he rewrote both The World Spins Madly On and the spin-off, What Goes Up…, and published them with sparkly new cover designs ready for the release of his upcoming sequel, Beneath the Stars.

Ynes Freeman is an award-winning gothic fiction author, and she is the publisher at Memento Vivere Press. Her work is beautiful, intense, and deep. She believes writing is the secret to immortality and that authors live forever through their books, changing the lives of people they will never meet. Her wish is for all creatives to believe in themselves and that their stories are worth telling. Under a variety of pen names, Ynes’s work has appeared in Everyday Fiction ezine, Primal Elements (a poetry collection), The Order of Us (a Moms Who Write anthology), Dragons Within, and other anthologies. Learn more about her work by visiting @ynesfreeman on most social media.

Ben is a novelist and screenwriter from the UK. He has written numerous short stories, novels, screenplays, and articles, and has a Master’s in Creative Writing. His debut novel, The Reprobates, a finalist in the 2023 Foreword INDIES, was inspired by his student days working in a nightclub. It was here that he witnessed a lost generation at play. A TV adaptation of this novel is currently in pre-production.

I am an author, editor and creative writing tutor who lives between Edinburgh, Scotland and Co. Mayo in the West of Ireland, with my teenage son and our dog. After a first career in social work and community health, in my forties, I studied for my PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, and since then have read at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and for Pitch Perfect at the Bloody Scotland Festival.

I’ve always loved fantasy fiction—from Tamora Pierce to Brandon Sanderson. However, the dawn of LitRPG has really grabbed my imagination and, having fallen in love with stories such as Dungeon Crawler Carl, the Cradle series and Ten Realms.

Michael Spitzkoff, originally from Red Bank, New Jersey, now resides in Avondale, Arizona. Michael’s professional background consists of Real Estate Investing, clinical and administrative experience in the medical field, as well as being a veteran of the United States Army. Having a true passion for storytelling, Michael became a full-time writer.