About Samuel

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I grew up in British Columbia, having lived in Victoria, Vancouver, the Okanogan, and the Cariboo region, but I have recently found myself in Southern Nova Scotia. 

I am physically disabled, genderfluid, and proudly neurodivergent. You kinda have to be neurodivergent to write fiction, I think. I count it as a strength, not a weaknesses. It makes me a compulsive daydreamer, which has translated well into being an author. For example, my first trilogy of hard science fiction novels was a complete accident. The mood took me to write a short story, but my local store didn’t sell notebooks, so I decided to try the computer. That decision resulted in a passionate career that means the world to me.

My creative influences are most strongly Michael Crichton, and Stephen King. My genre interests are diverse, but usually lean toward the adventurous. My favorite books are Treasure Island, Dracula, The Lord of the Rings, Dune, and the Lord of the Flies. My biggest literary criticism is the lack of women and diversity in most of those same novels. I am also a giant comic book nerd. Big event comics leave me cold, but I deeply love nuanced character studies in that format. I see the marriage of art and literature in comics, animation, and video games as the highest forms of human collaborative creativity. With those details, you should understand my approach to writing and storytelling. I have been told my style is highly cinematic, and I consider that a lovely compliment.

Writing isn’t my only outlet. I am a lifelong sketch artist, and I trained as an environment artist for the game design industry at the Vancouver Institute of Media Arts (VANarts). That life didn’t take off, but the experience has proven invaluable. The covers for all of my books are my design and artwork, containing no ai. Although I regrettably ​experimented with ai when the technology was new, I will never allow it to taint my work again. I currently work in the free to use digital art program Krita because adobe is disgustingly expensive. I hope that someday my life will have more room for fine art studies, and I aspire to properly learn how to paint. 

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Disclaimer:

Omens and ill portents involving Samuel should be considered propaganda and dismissed or referred to the office of the Oracle of Eternity. If Samuel has turned you into a newt and the condition persists, please consult a veterinarian.