About the Author

Welcome, friends, to The Dragonspire! I’m Louise, and I love dragons, Merlin, and dairy-free chocolate. This writing thing? I’ve been doing it for as long as I can remember.

When I was 11 my English teacher told me I had a talent for writing. It stuck with me, and in that same year I wrote my first book, ‘Grim Fandango 2,’ based on a video game! I love great stories, whether they be in books, TV, films or games.

I’ve written over 52 short stories, but I’m still trying to master the art of finishing a novel. At the moment I’m working on two first drafts, Dragonspire & Second Chance at Destiny. (links to shiny project pages to follow someday, when I stop procrastinating by adding dragons to my profile pic, etc! For now they link to excerpts and posts with project updates.)

Destiny is the story I’m focused on right now. It’s an Arthurian legend/Merlin retelling set after the battle at Camlann.

I blog about fantasy stories, magic, dragons, and anything that interests me or influences my writing. Expect fun weekly writing prompts, (I host #sunscribbles on Twitter) short stories, gushing over TV (historical drama, superheroes, anime, and animated films like How to Train Your Dragon, The Flash, Arrow, Merlin, Psych, Sherlock and Fullmetal Alchemist) and medieval history, with occasional posts on gaming, drawing, photography, cooking, fanfiction and reading.

Everyone has a favourite film, right? One they put on when they’re feeling down as they snuggle under a blanket fort with hot cocoa? Mine’s ‘How to Train Your Dragon.’ I’ve always loved dragons and have a lot of figures, including two plush Toothless to keep me company as I write!

How much I love a story is strongly linked to the characters. If I love them I love the story. If I don’t, no matter how good the world building or plot is, I’m done, finito, DNF! A strong bunch of characters can drive a narrative, and even years later I’m still gushing over the video game Star Ocean 3, despite a crazy plot! 

Speaking of gaming, I’ve often devoted hours to Japanese RPG’s. (I tried to participate in Nanowrimo 2015 but I’d just bought Tales of Vesperia and that game took over my life!) I also like Hearthstone, Minecraft and 7 Days to Die (open world survival games are awesome!) but the game I’m hyped for is the Final Fantasy VII remake. I loved the original back in 1997!

I have a graduate degree in history, with a focus on landscape archaeology (particularly castles!) and medieval history. I adore anything medieval. It’s fascinating and inspiring. I spent a lot of time daydreaming in lectures and plotting fantasy stories with kings, queens, knights and sword fights! I also spent far too much time researching Arthurian legend, which wasn’t even on the syllabus: That tangent’s a great help now, considering my current work in progress!)

I live in a small town on the east coast, where it’s often foggy and rains a lot. When the sun does shine I love spending time at the beach, especially when writing and looking for inspiration. I love being taken by surprise by great stories, ‘shipping’ couples that aren’t canon, and taking pictures of all the pretty scenery I can find!

I believe the best stories inspire, and my dream is to publish stories just like that. Stick around, be inspired, and by all means feed the dragons. But beware the magic. It’s out of control!

Thanks for visiting 🙂

– Louise

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