Gabrielle Steele lives in Essex, UK with her husband and two mischievous younglings. Formerly a software developer, she snatches spare moments to write epic fantasy and speculative shorts. Gabrielle enjoys pitting the poor souls she creates against dragons, gods, and the occasional squirrel.
The Origin of Thellian
When I was a teenager, I was super into Lord of the Rings, thanks to Peter Jackson’s masterpiece movies coming out at that time. As with many other Tolkien fans, I dreamt of creating a rich world of my own. I even planned to invent several languages, despite the fact I’m useless with languages.
In 2003, aged 14, I spent Valentine’s Day with a friend. We were both single, so it was a depressing day for two teenage girls, but we made the most of it. She happened to have an interest in Latin and was kind enough to spend the day helping me invent a language for the world already growing in my mind. My first real attempt at a book followed, titled Eidu Are.
