Stew Adams

When he's not fighting fires or accidentally befriending elephants in Cambodia, Stew Adams writes fantasy novels that blend magic with a healthy dose of real-world chaos. His decade-plus as a professional firefighter taught him that the best stories, like real adventures, come from the unexpected turns life throws your way. Armed with degrees in chemistry and geology (because apparently one science wasn't enough), Stew creates fantasy worlds where magic follows rules, but rarely the ones you'd expect. His stories, shortlisted for several fantasy awards, feature characters who stumble into power like he stumbles into adventures—with a mix of curiosity, questionable decision-making, and surprising success. These days, he splits his time between Australia and the US, an arrangement that began when he met his Texan wife while trying (and mostly failing) to be useful at a wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia. He writes while his German Shepherd judges his plot choices with increasingly skeptical head tilts, and occasionally takes breaks to throw himself out of perfectly good airplanes over Wollongong Beach—because sometimes you need a new perspective on your character's life choices.