James Taumas

Who am I?

I’m a day dreamer always trying to catch those sporadic imagination bolts with a bottle and then weave them onto a page when I do. My writer’s epiphany is not so dis-similar to a comic book super hero’s origin story (that’s what I tell myself anyway).

It was the early 80s in Melbourne, Australia, on a Saturday afternoon trip to a department store’s book section. I was there to spend my pocket money on either a copy of Tintin or Asterix. On my way there I was stopped by a book cover I hadn’t seen before. It was technicolour vivid and the characters portrayed looked like they had leaped off the screen from The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). The book was The Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks and the cover art was by Darrell K. Sweet. The story was cheesy by today’s standards, but I loved it. This was to be my first dive into the fantasy genre and it lit in me a spark to start writing my own fantastic worlds.

It wasn’t long before the fire was smothered though by distractions and a career in an unrelated field. I stopped scribbling and became deaf to creativity's calling.

It was only in the early 2000s when I moved to London for adventure that my desire to write was rekindled. When I returned to Australia, I took some advice from a friend, and decided to undertake a writing course to sharpen my craft. I entered into a whole new biome where like-minded creators exchanged ideas, experiences, and knowledge. Those years were the most inspirational, cultivating varying perspectives and forming my own style in writing.

Once I was comfortable in this writer's skin I just kept on going; contests, reviews, reports, speeches, manuals; and whatever would allow me to put fingers to keyboard. I even wrote fan fiction on . Whenever I had the chance or opportunity I just wrote.

Here I am, continuing that journey that started so many years ago in the book section of a department store. Still writing and creating worlds which I hope one day you’ll get to visit.