My Literary Journey
Welcome, fellow fantasy lovers! I’m a debut author, passionate bookworm, and software engineer with a degree from Utah Valley University. I’m fortunate to love both of my jobs: coding and writing. It’s said that if you love what you do, then you’ll never work a day in your life. Never has a truer statement been made. I spend every waking moment “working.” Man, it’s great!
The Spark of Imagination
As a child, I was an unlikely candidate for being an author. School was a daily grind, and English class was my nemesis. I lived with my head in the clouds, conjuring up superhero adventures and fantastical realms far from the confines of my classroom.
My transformation began in elementary school when my mother handed me Stephen King’s The Stand. It was far beyond my reading level, but the premise of a world-ending virus captivated me. Armed with nothing but determination, a dictionary, and a bag of candy, I dove in. Those first chapters were a slog. I felt like an archeologist trying to decipher an ancient language—more time was spent in the dictionary than advancing the story. But as I persevered, something magical happened: the words on the page vanished, replaced by a vivid world fueled by my imagination and guided by King’s masterful storytelling.
I was hooked, and I began spending my entire lawn mowing allowance on books.
The Writing Bug Takes Hold
When my book budget ran dry, I turned to writing. Poetry—my first foray into writing—enthralled me with the way carefully chosen words, pacing, and sentence structure could evoke powerful emotions. But in the unforgiving social landscape of high school, where writing poetry was akin to wearing a “kick me” sign, I shifted my focus to short stories.
Writing became my personal playground, allowing me to create entire worlds more detailed and alive than any I’d read about. Though I kept these stories to myself, they became the foundation of my craft.
From Suspense to Fantasy
That first experience with King sparked an inferno. I devoured horror and suspense novels, but it was Dean R. Koontz who’s suspense novels created a literary out-of-body experience for me, plunging me into the world of the supernatural. The idea that our mundane world could contain a wealth of fantastical secrets—just waiting to be unearthed—resonated deeply with me. This was my gateway into the realm of fantasy.
Then came the turning point: Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time series. These books didn’t just hook me; they reeled me in and never let go. Jordan’s intricate world-building, fascinating magic system, complex characters, and epic scope showed me the true potential of fantasy literature.
When Brandon Sanderson took up Jordan’s mantle after his passing, I was intrigued by this unknown author. Diving into “Elantris” and the “Mistborn” series, I soon found myself blown away by Sanderson’s innovative magic systems and meticulous world-building. As someone with OCD, I found his rules-based approach to fantasy writing—particularly his laws of magic—deeply satisfying. I devoured his online writing courses, absorbing every bit of knowledge I could about the craft.
Crafting My Own Worlds
Inspired by the masters of the genre, I began experimenting with my own writing. What started as poetry in elementary school evolved into short stories in junior high and high school. If reading was fun, writing was pure magic. It allowed me to create entire universes, infinitely more detailed than any book I had read. When I returned from serving a two-year mission, I began writing full length novels.
Over the years, I honed my craft, devouring books on writing, dissecting author interviews, and writing purely for my own enjoyment. Like my literary mentor, Stephen King, I discovered I was a “pantser”—shrugging off the confines of a well laid plot, and instead seeding my imagination with a vague idea and letting it run wild.
The Birth of a Fantasy Series
With AI threatening both my career and my passion, I’ve decided to take the plunge into the world of publishing to subsidize my income. I’m sure most authors would tell me I was insane, and that “starving artist” is a phrase that applies to authors even more than painters, but writing is what I love, and I’d rather not work for a living.
Inspired by Jordan, Sanderson, and countless others, I’m crafting my own fantasy series. My goal is to create immersive worlds and magic systems that will captivate readers the way my favorite authors captivated me.
I’m thrilled to share a glimpse of my upcoming novel:
The Shadow’s Gambit
Book One of The Taint of Shadows Trilogy
In a world ruled by light and magic, master thief Kael Veyrin leads his crew through the shadows, hiding a deadly secret—tainted magic courses through his veins, tying him to an ancient evil and granting him power over darkness. As this power urges him to embrace it and claim his destiny, Kael knows his very existence is a death sentence.
When a mysterious sect member offers an irresistible heist—stealing an ancient, heavily guarded artifact—Kael is thrust into a deadly game. The reward? Freedom. The risk? Discovery, and likely, the world’s destruction.
As forgotten evils stir and old forces awaken, Kael must choose: flee, or step into the shadows and confront his destiny. In a realm where the powers of light hunt shadow, will Kael be consumed by the darkness within, or harness it to save a world teetering on the brink of chaos?
The master of shadows can’t escape his nature—but he might redefine it.
Join Me on This Adventure
I invite you to join me on this exciting journey. Whether you’re a longtime fan of the genre or new to its magical allure, I hope my stories will transport you to new worlds and ignite your imagination.
Stay tuned for updates on “The Shadow’s Gambit” and future works. If you’d like to be part of this adventure, consider signing up for my newsletter where I’ll share exclusive content, writing updates, and maybe even some behind-the-scenes peeks into my world-building process.
Thank you for being part of my story. The best is yet to come!