Astrid V.J.

I am a South African social anthropologist, transformational life coach and award-winning author of fantasy in a variety of subgenres. I am also a USA Today Best-selling author. I live in Gothenburg, Sweden with my husband and our two children. I love fairy tales and have published three fairy tale retellings in the Elisabeth and Edvard's World series.

I am currently working on a new series which is a space opera/fantasy cross over. The Wishmaster Series is envisioned as a trilogy: The Apprentice Storyteller (book 1), Becoming Spellwright (book 2) and Master Wordmage (book 3). The Apprentice Storyteller is a tale of transformation and human possibility based on the insights gained from Mary Morrissey's Dream Builder Course. It is something like Paolo Coelho's "The Alchemist" meeting epic fantasy.

To accompany The Apprentice Storyteller, I have the Wordmage's Tales, a series of novellas told by Jo from The Apprentice Storyteller. These are tales which are mentioned in the novel but are not recounted there. At the same time, each one of the Wordmage's Tales offers insight into a single principle from the Dream Builder Course in transformational life coaching. Together, they offer a step-by-step literary treatise on how true transformation works and what you can do to apply the principles in your own life to be able to experience incredible change.

When I'm not writing, I love to spend time with my children. I love arts and crafts and have taken to sewing my own clothes. It is a fun pastime I wish I had more time for. I also enjoy playing the violin and doing cross-stitch, especially creating my own patterns of my favourite anime characters.

My day job is dedicated to Swedish adult education where I support integration endeavours among Muslim immigrants. Many of the human experiences and psychological features I encounter in my daily life have made their way into my writing. I am also fascinated by other cultures and love meeting new people.