Look and Listen

Biography

Brenna Lyons is an award-winning, bestselling author of SF, Fantasy and Horror, straight genre and cross, in the field of indie/e publishing. In her first five-years published in novel length, she's finaled for 6 EPPIES, 3 PERALS (taking Honorable Mention second to Angela Knight), 2 CAPAS and a Dream Realm Award. To date, she's been published more than 5 dozen times and usually works with 6-8 publishers at a time.

She's the Senior Editor of Mundania Press, LLC. and the current president of EPIC. In addition, Brenna is a member in good standing of ERWA, EWAG, WRW and Broad Universe.

Born and raised in the Hazelwood/Glenwood area of Pittsburgh, PA, Brenna graduated Carlow College with a BS in Accounting and a certificate of computer programming. In the years since, she's worked at everything from auditing to finding the back doors to NEX and AAFES computer systems, from clerking to a teaching, and from writing to tracking fraud suspects.

A former Navy wife, Brenna has lived up and down the eastern seaboard of the US, from Maine to Florida, 9 years of which was spent in Virginia Beach, where she wrote her first book, PROPHECY. Now separated from the Navy, she lives in MA, with her husband, three kids and a zoo of pets.

Inspiration

I've been writing since I was old enough to form words and telling stories since before that. Writing isn't so much a choice with me as it is a compulsion. I can't go a few days without writing something. That much is proven true. From that standpoint, nothing has to inspire me to write.

As for what I've read that I think influenced me? I am a huge fan of Stephen King, John Saul, David and Leigh Eddings, Piers Anthony and all manner of children's, YA and adult fantasy, science fiction, horror and mystery...as well as romance.

I adored Incarnations of Immortality and the Hottest Blood series of anthologies, but it seemed there weren't many cross-genre (SF/F/H with romance or erotic), at the time I started writing. In addition, the romances were too predictable, and I couldn't find the old-fashioned "romance/love stories." Everything was pat and pablum, not too dark, the virginal or near-virginal heroine, and so on. I fell in love with things like Dr. Zhivagho. I wanted to read things that were dark, serious (even if they had comedic moments), gritty, real issues and consequences...with a love story and maybe a fantastical base. So, I wrote them.