Freda Warrington

About the Author

I was born in Leicestershire, UK, and grew up in the beautiful Charnwood Forest area which inspired an early feeling for landscape, atmosphere and the mystical side of life. My dad was the manager of a printing company and my mum an accomplished pianist and keen weaver. As an only child, I loved losing myself in books and started writing my first stories aged five.

Inspired by writers such as CS Lewis, Tolkien, Tanith Lee, Michael Moorcock, Joy Chant, Ursula LeGuin, Anne McCaffrey, JS Lefanu - not to mention the classics we studied at school, Thomas Hardy, the Brontes, Shakespeare and so on - I was soon drawn to trying my hand at fantasy. I always had a story on the go. One day at school, the English teacher asked, "Has anyone ever tried to write a novel?" and, to my great embarrassment, I was the only person to put her hand up! Well, I suppose I always knew I was a bit odd...

On leaving school I trained at Loughborough College of Art and Design, then worked in medical art and graphics for a number of years while always writing in my spare time. A Blackbird in Silver, begun when I was sixteen, wasn't the first novel I had started by any means, but it was the first novel I actually finished! I always had the closing scene in my mind, and that spurred me on to completion.

After a few years of rejection letters, an agent took me on and to my utter delight, found me a publisher, NEL. The novel was split into two parts (now reunited as A Blackbird in Silver Darkness) and appeared in 1986. Many more followed, twenty-one to date.

In the 1980s my then-publisher took me to my first SF convention where I met so many friendly, welcoming people - not to mention famous authors I never dreamed I'd meet - that I truly felt I'd come home. I even met my hubby Mike at a convention! A mutual friend introduced us in 1988, though it took us until 1991 officially to start seeing each other. We've been together ever since and got married in 2002. (We ran away to Las Vegas - true!)

Now we live in a small town in Leicestershire with my widowed mum. We enjoy travelling to Canada and the USA, where we have friends. We still go to SF/ fantasy conventions whenever we can.

Over the years I've worked for a teaching hospital, a printing company, a construction company, a motoring magazine, a timber yard, and at the visitor centre/ cafe/ gift shop of Bradgate Park Trust. I also like reading, art, all things gothic, Arabian horses, attempting to ski (not very well) and creative activities like making stained glass and jewellery.

You can read all about my books on my 'Novels' page, but in brief - my current or recent publishers are Tor US (Elfland, Midsummer Night, Grail of the Summer Stars), Immanion Press (A Blackbird in Silver Darkness, A Blackbird in Amber Twilight) and Titan Books (A Taste of Blood Wine, A Dance in Blood Velvet, The Dark Blood of Poppies, and my brand new book in the Blood Wine series, The Dark Arts of Blood).

My work's been nominated and short-listed for various awards, and occasionally won! Dracula the Undead won the Dracula Society Award for Best Gothic Novel in 1997. Elfland won the Romantic Times 2009 Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

Oh, and I've been a huge fan of Richard III for years. Simon & Schuster published my 'alternative history with a dash of fantasy' version of his story in 2002. In view of the renewed interest in this most fascinating of monarchs - his remains were discovered in my home town, Leicester, and recently reintered in Leicester Cathedral - I have reissued The Court of the Midnight King as an ebook and a brand new paperback edition.

And no car park jokes, I promise.

At Dysprosium, the 2015 Eastercon