E.J. Bertel

E.J.Bertel (pronounced būr-tel’ as in burr-tell), the author of the Flores Girl Trilogy, graduated from SUNY at Stony Brook with a degree in biology while training as a physical anthropologist. E.J. actually studied with some of the same team that would later examine the Homo floresiensis fossil find. Professionally, he enjoyed a successful career in product marketing and Internet marketing with several large Fortune 1000 companies.

Before writing Flores Girl, E.J. did enjoy writing the occasional short story or pithy corporate email but his writing didn’t really blossom until the find on Flores Island in 2004 galvanized him into action. Originally conceived as an adventure story centered about Richard the alcoholic and womanizing scientist, the novel took a decided different turn with the introduction of Sarah Levine, the temperamental and sensitive protagonist to Richard. Sarah’s presence allowed the concept of the original novel to develop into a trilogy and beyond. In the second novel, “Emptiness and the Warrior” Sarah is physically and spiritually transformed from the victim of the first novel into a classic reluctant hero. The original Flores Girl Podcast had tens of thousands of downloads.

After writing the second Flores Girl novel, E.J. wanted to change it up somewhat by sharing with the readers a glimpse into the process and challenges of being a writer. The idea of writing an erotic first person account of a failed writer seemed to be a worthy challenge. The result is “A Curious Eve Musings”, the story of a failed science fiction writer named Henry and his polyamorous muse Jessie. Needing to write passages regard Henry’s novel E.J. then wrote an entire novel for Henry, “A Curious Eve” about a sexual close encounter on a cruise ship that goes seriously wrong. With those novels completed E.J. returned to Flores Girl and created an erotic prequel novel for Sarah in “The Erotic Bodhisattva” which was also turned into a audiobook complete with professional narration and original music.