E.L. Clarke’s early writing days were most productive when she was sitting on a train going to work. Writing in a cafe or on her lounge are top seconds, spurring her creativity, and are much preferred than writing in the wee pre-dawn hours which has become the norm for a busy mum and businesswoman trying to eke out time in the day for her craft.

A methodical and practical person who enjoys planning parts of her books in a spreadsheet, writing novels has taught E.L. to let go a bit. All inspiration for her books has come purely from her imagination. She feels that sometimes it’s as if someone else wrote her stories, saying, “I look back on my manuscripts at times and wonder Wow, where did THAT come from?”

E.L. believes that a great book is based on strong characters and a gripping storyline—something that is relatable enough to keep the reader interested but unique enough to allow the reader to escape. She hopes that her own stories provide her young readers a world to get temporarily lost in, to understand universal friendship and that there could be so much more in the world than what is presented to us day to day.

When she isn’t writing thought-provoking fantasy and science fiction stories for young adults, E.L. manages a small photography business and enjoys singing, playing piano, camping, snowboarding, hiking, cooking, motorcycle riding, drawing, and exploring the outdoors near Sydney, Australia where she lives with her husband, children, and their pets—a black Labrador, and a Maine Coone cat.

Verntropa: The Balance is her debut novel, the first volume in the Verntropa trilogy.