Ritchie Valentine Smith

It's epic fantasy I write now, producing the 'Words of Power' series - colorful, multicultural high fantasy, in the spirit of Robert Jordan and George R. R. Martin. Otherwise, in third person...

Ritchie Valentine Smith was once a social worker, once a poet, and once on the BBC ‘New Talent’ program. His interest in fantasy and SF started when he was a boy on Tyneside fascinated by alternate realities. His work appeared in anthologies then with the likes of Keith Roberts, Brian Aldiss and Robert Holdstock. His interest in the East was fuelled when he read Clavell’s masterpiece ‘Shogun’. He is still a proud member of the Crime Writers’ Association (having done three thrillers in the 90s). His play 'Rocket Man' (not the Elton John biopic) was on at the Pleasance (Edinburgh) and the Union Theatre (London) where it won a Peter Brook Award for its producers. He wrote and also produced 'Kiss' in 2012, showcasing the play in London. He has worked as a reviewer for www.edinburghguide.com, covering stand-up comedy and theatre on the Edinburgh Fringe.

He now reviews SF and fantasy for the British Fantasy Society. In 2014 he published the first in his series of fantasy novels 'Words of Power'. ‘Words of Fury’, recently heavily revised, followed. ‘Words of Fury Part One’ is available at low cost on Kindle only. This sequence will be extended by ‘Words of Anger’ then ‘Words of Darkness’ and completed by ‘Words of Light’. For research, the author has travelled extensively, going to the Middle East – he was coming down from Masada when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait – to India, and of course to Japan. He is, famously, a fan of the late Robert Jordan.

There is more information about Ritchie Valentine Smith on his Website, www.ritchievalentinesmith.com – pictures of travel, of him with other UK writers, and pictures of his connections to Robert Jordan and the upcoming ‘Wheel of Time’ Amazon Prime TV show.

Feel free to ask the author directly about his inspiration(s), or incidents like what happened to him in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem...