Ep. 272 - The Queen of Grimdark Anna Smith Spark on Autism, Writing, & Epic Fantasy

Watch as a full video episode on YouTube

Anna Smith Spark loves grimdark and epic fantasy and historical military fiction. She has a BA in Classics, an MA in history and a PhD in English Literature. She has previously been published in the Fortean Times and the poetry website www.greatworks.org.uk. Anna's favourite authors and key influences are R. Scott Bakker, Steve Erikson, M. John Harrison, Ursula Le Guin, Mary Stewart and Mary Renault. She spent several years as an obsessive D&D player. She can often be spotted at SFF conventions wearing very unusual shoes. Her latest books, A Sword of Gold & Ruin and Anderson versus Death, are out now.

We had a great time chatting with Anna live at Cymera Festival in Edinburgh, hearing about how neurodivergence shapes her unique writing style, her lightning-fast journey to landing an agent, and writing epic trilogies without a plan. We also talk about tackling 2000 AD IP with Judge Anderson, and we get into an interesting chat about theoverlap between ancient mythology and comic book continuity!

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