Hello everyone and welcome to my website! I’m Zven (that’s what the Z is for between Arlo and Graves) and I write fantasy, horror, and other oddities. If you’re curious what my work’s all about and don’t want to wait until 2025 when my books to debut, I have a few short stories over under the Short Work tab (hint: two are free!).

But back to it. Zven. Who are they?

I was lucky enough to grow up in the woods and luckier still to live in those same woods today. If you ever wonder if magic exists, you need look no farther than the redwood forest. I live in a salvaged shack named Gerald, who my partner and I are rebuilding with our own hands. I did the plumbing! Fun fact: I kept the grey water and toilet water completely separate so the toilet physically cannot back up in the shower (insert housesitting horror story here.)

While I’m kind of a hermit cryptid who spends most of their time lurking around in the woods, I do love venturing out to my favorite restaurants, coffee shops, and the library. I have a tiny demon (lovebird), and a Ham (cattle dog), who you’ll probably see around here and on my social media.

I’m still waffling around with the notion of identifying myself as disabled, but I do live with two disabilities, one developmental (I’m diagnosed with Autism, L2), one physical (mixed connective tissue disease and fibromyalgia, the power couple), and both inform and influence the way I write and what sorts of stories I tell. Because I still struggle with reading (yes, I can read, it’s just not the smoothest process) and one of my hands has impaired function from the mctd, I use adaptive tech in my processes, so expect to learn more about some of my tips and tricks as we go along.

Aside from seals, ocarinas, and weird rocks, language is one of my special interests. I had a speech delay as a child and couldn’t read to any extent until I was sixteen, but as an adult, my love of a German metal band inspired me to learn German, which I now speak (with a silly accent.) I’m also functional in Spanish, have some basic, customer service ASL, and love Swedish and Icelandic enough to be a complete menace when it comes to naming fantasy settings.

A huge part of my creative process involves learning about and exploring things that appear in my work. For example, while working on my upcoming weirdwest horror novella, Black Rose, I visited all of the real world settings, shot the old revolvers and shotguns, and walked around in a big black coat and boots in the same places my monster hunter protagonist walked. Turns out Rhyolite was so much more beautiful than I imagined. Stark, desolate, and sparkling with pops of color and life. I hope you’ll want to come along to ghost towns, train museums and meet airship experts, while I learn and experience new things to build fantastical and frightening worlds.

Expect a spooky ghost town blog coming for Halloween.

For now, I’d love it if you’d consider signing up for my newsletter, which should make its first appearance in December before the release of Black Rose.

I hope you have a cozy autumn drink or snack, and I’ll see you next time.

Cheers!

***Zven