authortirrell

[authortirrell]

Preorder Now Available: Duke Rhime of the Spire

After a long journey through drafts, submissions, and soul-searching, I’m thrilled to announce that Duke Rhime of the Spire is now available for preorder, a Lucardian chronicle of power, sorcery, and sacrifice. This book marks a journey back to the early, darker days of Lucardia, set 310 years before the events of the Absolution of the Morning Star series, during the final death throes of the…

[authortirrell]

Mapping Lucardia: Three Eras, One Fractured Realm

As Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest slowly but surely inches toward publication, Grendell Press requested a map. The fantasy world loves maps, so this was no easy ask. I have many versions of a Lucardia map; the one I sent to Grendell is specifically for Koen, but Lucardia has undergone many changes over the last thousand years, and it was time to solidify this visually. Lucardia is a…

[authortirrell]

The Silence Between Pages: On Loneliness in My Books

I’ve always been comfortable being alone. Not in a performative, monk-on-a-mountain sort of way—but in the quiet, backyard-on-a-summer-evening kind of way. I’m an introvert by nature. Growing up, there were stretches when there were other kids in the neighborhood and stretches when there weren’t. During the quiet times, I turned inward. I imagined stories, built kingdoms in the woods, and held…

[authortirrell]

What my fictional fathers teach me about my own

I have a great father. The kind of man who showed up—quietly, steadily-the kind you could build a world around. He never raised his hand. He rarely raised his voice. He wasn’t afraid to show his love. I remember my friends envying me for that. Some of them lived in homes ruled by silence or, worse, by the kind of noise that made you flinch—fathers who drank, who yelled, who struck, who vanished.…

[authortirrell]

Defining my world

Recently, I undertook a major project for my website. I’ve always wanted to produce a glossary for my Lucardian world, primarily for my readers but also for myself. Currently, I have completed eight books set in Lucardia (five published and three yet to be published). On top of that, I have about 25-30 other projects I would love to write in this world (6 that I must write). Thus far, I have…

[authortirrell]

Introducing My New Newsletter: A New Chapter Begins

I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my brand-new newsletter — a place where creativity, insight, and connection come together. Over the years, I’ve had the chance to engage with an incredible community of thinkers, creators, and readers. Now, I’m excited to take that conversation to the next level with something more personal and direct. Whether you’re a long-time follower or just stumbling…

[authortirrell]

How Ruins Shape My Imagination

A few weeks ago, standing amid the remains of the Herculaneum in Naples, I was reminded why ruins have such a hold on my imagination. A decade ago, I visited Pompeii — vast, sprawling, monumental in its decay. Pompeii overwhelms with its scale, but it also distracts with its size. The Herculaneum, smaller and more intimate, offered something different: the ability to explore. To linger in the…

[authortirrell]

Stone by Stone, Word by Word

When I sit down to work on my fiction, the words still come. Maybe not always easily, maybe not always gracefully, but they come. The stories are alive. The characters still whisper. The world still opens its doors to me. There is still so much more I want to say. But when I sit down to write for this blog — the place where I’ve posted 302 times in five years — I hit a wall. It’s not a creative…

[authortirrell]

I Don't Write Heroes—And Here's Why

I didn’t set out to avoid heroes. But every time I tried to create one—the kind who stands tall, speaks clearly, and always knows right from wrong—I felt like I was lying. The stories I needed to tell weren’t about saviors. They were about survivors. About what happens after the battle, after the prophecy, after the world keeps turning. That’s where I found the truth. And that’s where I choose to…

[authortirrell]

Did I Make the Right Choice?

My wife chose education. She chose the long nights of coursework and spreadsheets, the nerve-rattling presentations, and the empty notebooks slowly filled with formulas, theory, and case studies. She chose the outcome. The goal. The degree. Then the next one. And the next, until she found an end. First, an MBA. Then, a doctorate–the period at the end of the sentence. She has earned rest, the…

[authortirrell]

Forging the Cover: The Evolution of Dawn of the Lightbearer

Every book cover makes a promise. But sometimes, it takes five versions to make the right one. When I first published Dawn of the Lightbearer almost four years ago, I was driven by story, passion, and vision—less so by design experience. I have an eye and real-life artistic skills, but digitally producing a book cover was trial and error with limited tools and know-how. I knew I wanted a cover…

[authortirrell]

What Naples Gave Me (Besides Jet Lag and Limoncello)

I know it has been some time since my last post, but I just returned from a much-needed two-week vacation in Naples, Italy. I had planned to schedule some posts before I left, but I simply ran out of time. A week before our departure, I received the line edits and feedback from the editor at Grendel Press for Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest, and I wanted to complete those before I went, so I…

[authortirrell]

Before the Lightbearer: Why I Had to Write Koen

Now that Koen: Quills of the Raven’s Nest is back from the editor and getting all patched up (we’re almost there), I’ve fallen back in love with the book. I wasn’t supposed to write Koen. Not yet, anyway. When I began charting the course of the Absolution of the Morning Star series (AMS), I had a firm trajectory—six books, a complete arc, each installment pulling the reader deeper into…

[authortirrell]

One Step Closer: Koen is Home from the Editor

The line edits are in. After months of waiting, wondering, and second-guessing, Koen: Quills from the Raven’s Nest has come back to me from my savior with a red pen, the editor at Grendel Press, who heroically battled the creeping typo and the terrorizing grammatical error. This isn’t my first round of feedback, which came during the editorial stage before I signed the contract. But this is the…

[authortirrell]

Not Just Stars: How a Tiny Click Changes Everything

A special kind of magic lives in the smallest moments—those quick, quiet affirmations that slip in while brushing your teeth or brewing coffee. For authors, one of those moments is the soft chime of a new book rating. This morning, I checked my notifications and saw it: a single five-star rating for The Novice of Thanatos. Admittedly, the book has had a slow start. I’ve learned a valuable…

[authortirrell]

Into the Abyss: Who Is the Dark Fantasy Reader?

Last time, I wrote about how I didn’t set out to write dark fantasy but found myself here all the same, drawn by the arcane, the spiritual, and the broken beauty of stories that don’t look away from pain. I’m still learning the boundaries of the genre (if there are any) and figuring out where my work fits. But as I settle into this shadowed corner of speculative fiction, a new question has…

[authortirrell]

Dark Fantasy: Rising from the Ashes

I never set out to follow trends, but now that I’m here, I’m curious. My love for the arcane, the spiritual, and the unsettling pulled me into dark fantasy long before I realized that was where I was heading. I’m ashamed to admit, I’m not well-read in it—at least not in the way others can recite their grimdark canon. Sure, I’ve read Tolkien and Martin, some Ambercrombie, too, and found myself…