I thought now would be a good time to reintroduce myself, seeing as how I have some big book news coming soon!
But first, subscribe to my Substack to get my latest book updates and stories: https://substack.com/@alexisveenendaalauthor
The Short Bio
I grew up on a farm in Alberta, Canada, and lived a primarily rural life surrounded by a quirky family and tons of animals until moving to Lethbridge for university. I got married, then moved to the Netherlands with my husband in 2019. We lived there for three years, then moved to Cardiff, Wales, where we’ve lived for almost three years. We’ve taken the opportunity to travel a ton, make new friends, pick up numerous hobbies, and adopt a cat named Navi.
The Looooooong Bio
I was born on a blustery winter day in December, the youngest of three sisters. My two embarrassingly awesome parents raised us on a farm in Alberta, Canada. We grew up jumping on straw bales, riding horses, feeding cows, making cardboard houses for kittens, and embarking on imaginary journeys across the fields. I’d like to think that living so far from civilisation was the cause of both my love of books and storytelling, and also my introvertedness.
Let’s skip over school years because while I could probably fill a book with them and all the wacky stories I wrote, the only super relevant parts in my author journey would be my first book, first script, the teacher who said my writing was funny but dark, and the day my mom bought a bookstore.
The first book that I think I attempted (from my memory) was titled “The Case of the Evil Librarian”, a story about a middle school kid and his friend discovering their school librarian had a hidden lair beneath the school guarded by mutant chickens. I’m sure it was terribly written, but oh, how I wish I still had a copy.
I also recall writing a script in middle school about a magical fish, called “The Fish Wish”, that I made my friends act out.
Skipping ahead to high school, my mom bought a bookstore, solidifying my desire to be as bookish as possible. Working there was my first real job, and I must say, being surrounded by books all day is incomparable.
In high school, I also tried writing a teen supernatural book with vampires, werewolves, faeries, and mutant frog people (don’t ask why I was so obsessed with mutants), called “Dust Rose”. I wrote my friends into the book as characters. I’m certain that book was also terrible, but I remember scribbling in it any chance I got between spare classes and lunch breaks.
Now, moving on to university days. I didn’t know what I wanted to do as a career other than be an author—yet I was convinced that being an author was not a full-time job. So what did I do? I got an English degree. Initially, I thought I would be a teacher, but I quickly ran away from that idea and settled on, “I have no idea what I’ll do. Marketing, maybe?”
In the four years of my undergraduate degree, I don’t remember trying to write any novels. I would ‘fictionalise’ our D&D campaigns and post the occasional short story on my blog, but beyond that, I think I’d mostly given up on the idea of anything bigger.
After graduation, my husband Ian and I got married and I started a new job at a bank. That’s when I earnestly wrote my (technically) third book, but what I consider my first real attempt. I wrote it from start to finish. My book, “The Travellers”, was a story about a high school student who discovers his father is a Traveller, a person capable of jumping between realms and time to important moments in history. I’m pretty sure there were aliens at some point.
Again, this book was probably awful. But I wrote it in its entirety, and that’s all I needed: To know that I could do it. Now, I just had to get better.
Alas, I started and stopped a few book attempts after that, but never got anywhere with them. Life and work were a distraction, and I didn’t put my full efforts into becoming an author.
Until Ian and I moved to the Netherlands.
We packed our bags in 2019, said goodbye to Canada, and moved into a one-bedroom flat in Groningen, the Netherlands. Ian went to work doing space research stuff, and I started writing my next book, an epic fantasy first titled “Two Worlds”, then later renamed to “Tide of Sands”. I spent the next two-and-a-half years writing this book and its sequel.
Finally, I’d written something comprehensive! And LONG. I had a lot of editing to do. I also had to learn a lot about the publishing industry. I was always set on traditionally publishing and began my research into querying agents.
I queried my epic fantasy duology for almost a year and it went nowhere. So I dropped it. At the same time, I also wrote a YA travel rom-com. And then, Ian and I moved to Wales.
In Wales, I started a new job as a content writer for a tech company. Some new friends suggested I join an online fantasy and sci-fi writing course. That’s what sparked my next book idea, working title “The Reluctant Mentor”, about a curmudgeonly old wizard who mentors chosen ones and just wants to retire.
I finished the book, queried it. Paid for a developmental editor to help improve it, then queried it again. I found my literary agent, we went on submission, and…the rest is soon to be announced!
Now, to write the next book, and the next… I’ll be honest, the publishing journey has put me in an intensely deep writing slump that I’m still trying to dig my way out of.
Whew, that’s quite the journey. I’m thirty-one now, and still in no shape to be a full-time author. But someday I hope that changes. It helps to have an incredibly supportive spouse and family.
For now, I’ll just enjoy the fact that I can (and will) continue to write, and we’ll see where it takes me. Hopefully into another fantasy adventure!
Subscribe to my Substack to see all my latest posts, publishing news, short stories and more!