My name’s Ned Marcus and I write fantasy and science fiction—novels and short stories. Originally, I’m from the north of England, but I’ve spent about half my life living in different parts of Europe and Asia.
I’ve taught EFL around the world, written articles and books on ELT. I have degrees in psychology, ergonomics and education, and I teach part-time at a university in East Asia. I also work as a content and copywriter.
The stories I write move between science fantasy, contemporary fantasy, science fiction, and planetary romance. My writing is often close to the natural world, and often involves communication with plants and animals. As a reader I love fantasy, but I read in all kinds of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. I started writing fantasy because I wanted fantasy worlds that I couldn’t find anywhere else. I still search for great new series to read.
The experience of living and travelling in various parts of, Europe and Asia has influenced me and my writing. Living in different countries means being exposed to different ways of thinking and living. The languages I’ve learnt (and forgotten) have also altered my perspective on the world. For those interested, I speak Chinese and am learning Russian and Latvian.
My fight scenes (including magical ones) have been influenced by kung fu: ba gua zhang and mizong in particular. Although I’ve been exposed to other styles too. Interesting styles with interesting creative applications in magic. And good for keeping in shape, too.
My writing includes spiritual themes: life, death and rebirth; and our connection with the universe and spirit. I'm able to experiment with these more rapidly in my short stories but also include in my longer fiction. One of my interests is tarot, which sometimes finds its way into my stories.
Protecting the environment and animal welfare are also important to me—I’ve rescued animals from difficult situations and sometimes adopted them. The relationship between animals and humans reappears in my stories, as does the natural environment.
But the stories themselves are adventures on distant worlds. You can listen to me talking more about the themes of my work in this interview.
I'm currently writing the second novel in the Orange Storm series—a blend of urban fantasy and science fiction.
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