I’m N.L. Bryar, author of Fantasy stories. I aim to instill wit, turn-of-phrase, and punchy action. I aim to bring to life characters with haunted pasts, with gifts at times blessed and at times cursed, and with burdens they struggle to carry upright.
I love to write Urban Fantasy, such as the upcoming “The Curse of the Unholy Grail,” with hopefully other modern-mythic tales to follow.
Contact me at //nlbryar.page/contact.
Bio(s)
As my debut novel follows a dhampir — half-human, half-monster wrestling with her dual-nature — it’s only fitting you follow dual author biographies.
Human-Mode Bio
Seattle had always been my home base. I grew up there, was an engineer there (mechanical, then software), and raised my family there. However, I’ve lived in a few other vibrant places amid dynamic cultures: New York City (where I studied engineering), and Nice, France (where I studied café culture), and now I’ve settled in Salt Lake City, Utah. All these places fostered a sense of a world beyond the ordinary, one connected to history and myth.
Add a dash of love for sci-fi and fantasy — reading it, watching it on TV and movies, and playing or designing role-playing campaigns — and a yearning to improve in the story-writing craft, and here I am, closing in on my first long-form novel. Writing has been a voyage of self-discovery and reinvention, and bit of a loving obsession. With pages to fill, one now goes about daily-life observing the world differently, with an eye for noticing a latent essence or truth, and with an intent to express it with concision and lyrical rhythm. Truth mapped to truth. Find humor or wonder in what you observe and it’s a rich day, indeed. Should you need a testimonial: writing does a person good.
And fantasy (urban or not) lets you give expression to truths almost unfettered. As Ursula K. Le Quin put it:
“For fantasy is true, of course. It isn’t factual, but it’s true. Children know that. Adults know it too and that’s precisely why many of them are afraid of fantasy. They know that its truth challenges, even threatens, all that is false, …”
I will have my debut novel, The Curse of the Unholy Grail, published by Summer, 2026.
Monster-Mode Bio
Where did these notions come from? How did they come to tease the sensibilities? Vines of thought wrap around a mind that never witnessed, never experienced, those conjectures and possibilities the thoughts convey. A story blossoms, its image inviting, fragrance inspiring, out of the dryad’s vines, out of the blend of nature and myth she embodies.
I came to this place prepared to analyze, secure, and optimize, but then I laid down to rest, and awoke weave wonder, kindle hearts, and give voice to dreams.
Now I live in a new land, a desert land, a cradle of wondrous mysteries and dire denizens, of Runelords and Fablehaven and Ravenloft and Cosmere. May echoes of their great magic make my feet sure and my pen swift to humbly follow in this worthy tradition.
I write in the penumbra between Reason's lit island and Myth’s black ocean.
What Happens Here
The blog’s primary themes are these: Firstly, my upcoming novel, The Curse of the Unholy Grail, about the world-building and magic-system, the characters, the myths and inspiration, the backstory of the writing, and its progress to publication. Secondly, what helped me transition from engineer to novelist, writing resources I’ve found, effective tips for tools I’ve used, opinions on craft, examples of good writing. Thirdly, a distant third, miscellany like the sculptures thing.
I hope the site will be a community both for fantasy fans and fantasy authors. (Especially among heretics who talk about vampires outside of romantasy. Je suis vraiment désolé.)
I aim to post content weekly, typically without email notification (but you can Subscribe via RSS). Content triggering subscriber-list emails comes roughly monthly.
Site Policies
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