I’m M.E. Smith, otherwise known as Jace. I was born and raised in California, where I live with my family, five cats, and a Shiba Inu. I hail from a small town that a celebrity described as unfit for a high class trailer park, though I’m currently lost in suburbia. Though I have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UC Irvine, I knew from the time I was seven years old that I wanted to make things up for a living.

I write young/new adult fantasy and science fiction. Diversity is especially important to me, particularly mental health advocacy and LGBT representation. I’m also a freelance digital artist specializing in anime-meets-Western-comics-style fantasy illustrations and concept art. Typically I draw stuff from my own written worlds, though I’ve been known to dabble in fan art.

I’m also a Diet Coke connoisseur, metalhead, an INTJ, and half-Vulcan. Darth Vader is my patronus.

You can also find me as vampiric-nephilim on FurAffinity and Weasyl.