Zack Argyle

In short, I write high, epic fantasy. The prose and style itself continues to evolve, and I think that is quite noticeable especially in the short stories I've been writing. At the foundation, however, I do try to make my writing accessible. As far as rating level, I'd say my stories are PG-13, with light swearing and intense violence.

When I was two, my family moved to an area just south of Seattle. I grew up with a forest in my back yard, mountains on the horizon, and every culture you can imagine jam-packed into my schools. I don't think it's a surprise that I love exploring different cultures and environments in my writing. I have short stories inspired by feudal-Japan and ancient Mesoamerica, and the Threadlight trilogy has cities set in deserts, forests, swamplands, and coastal regions.

Interestingly, I never considered myself much of a reader growing up. I did enjoy the Redwall books and Harry Potter as it was being released, but I often found myself looking up plot summaries in school rather than reading the books—something that I greatly regret later in life. My rekindled love of fantasy and reading came when I met my wife in college. She has always been a passionate reader, and when a friend of mine gave me a bootlegged PDF of Mistborn, I was hooked.

There's not one author that I'd take wholesale to mimic, but aspects of authors that I greatly admire. For example, I love the ideas in Ken Liu's short stories. I love the worlds from Brandon Sanderson. I love the quotability of Mark Lawrence. And the characters of Joe Abercrombie. If I could mash them all up and become whatever amalgamation that is, I would be very happy.

Without elaboration: Brandon Sanderson, Fonda Lee, Matt Dinniman, James Islington, Joe Abercrombie.

Over the past ten years, it would be Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Most recently, I have been forcing everyone to read Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman.

The obvious answer here is Chrys Valerian from the Threadlight trilogy. A new father that feels undeserving of his success and wants nothing more than to take care of his family. Hi, it's me.

The finale the Threadlight trilogy, Bonds of Chaos, is a story that I am very proud of. It was the culmination of years of planning, my first true ending, and I think some of the philosophical musings found inside are quite profound.

I do have a desk that I work primarily from most recently, but in the past it's been everywhere. I wrote large chunks of Voice of War and Stones of Light on the commuter train in the San Francisco bay area. I've written in hotel rooms, on airplanes, on the couch/ground/kitchen table. I'm the weirdo who uses Google docs...so anywhere I have internet, I can write.

Cuddled up next to a fireplace with the rain falling beyond a vast window behind me. Mmm, yes please.