Terence Park

I grew up in and around Burnley, Lancashire which is in the North of England. I spent a lot of time in the local library and the bookstore, mostly reading SF and Fantasy. Having taken so much from the genre, I've been thinking it's about time I put something back - at least that's what I tell my wife.

I'm inspired by lots of things - comic books, Golden Age SF, Epic Fantasy and I admire works like Galactic Pot Healer, Starship Troopers, Dune, Elric of Melniboné and Lord of the Rings. Their authors set the bar high. Yep, I'm aware that some might have looked down their noses at each others' work. I have friends that don't get on.

To dream is to connect to the fount of human invention. It's important to dream, but to bring it to life there has to be a hard edge. Facts and realism. Check the science. Few understand that bright fantasy is bedded in the doings of the nomadic hordes when they crushed the now long-forgotten realm of Khwarezm. Their deeds would make Daesh look like amateurs. I prefer my magic realms to have a thin veneer of chivalry.

I'm committed to writing realistic Science Fiction and Fantasy. A sandbox populated by humans and aliens or myth seen through a lens of dark fantasy; all must work their way out.

Hobbies: Photoshop (scanning images through to book cover), History (origins of the West, Golden Age Islam, Turco-Mongol atrocities), Golden Age SF / Fantasy, Silver Age American Comic Books, Converting Vinyl to Digital & audio cleaning, blogging... there's not enough time.

In a parallel life I have four children, three dogs, two cats and a long suffering wife. I'm a CIMA qualified Management Accountant which means I get to use spreadsheets (yippee!). For the really anal, I do process mapping, spreadsheet modelling, management reporting and costing systems.