Meet the Author

Hello friends,

I earned my doctorate in Refugee Studies from the University of East London in 2006, later teaching there while building a photography studio that grew into a full-time career capturing weddings and creative commissions.

But before all that, back in the early ’90s, I was a young dreamer writing a fantasy novel called Dream Traveller. It took four years, countless late nights, and one unforgettable rejection letter in 1994. Inspired by the greats – Tolkien, Brooks, Eddings, Tad Williams, and Robert Jordan – I set out to imagine two intertwined worlds: the waking world and a dream realm where imagination itself could shape reality.

Over time, I realised this wasn’t just my characters’ story, but mine too. Like them, I’ve always been a dreamer trying to make imagination real. The Dream Traveller became my way of turning a lifelong vision into something tangible. After years focused on academia and photography, I returned to the manuscript in 2013 and found it still alive with questions about power, empathy, and belonging. Now, decades later, The Dream Traveller: Dark Rising is published – and I’m thrilled to finally share it with you.

– John