My name is Ren Wayland and I am always living in a fantasy world. If I’m not flying with dragons or frolicking with fairies, I am home cuddling with my cats while I read a good book or binge a favorite TV show. I reside in northeastern North Carolina with my husband, but grew up in Hampton Roads, Virginia.
My favorite authors include Sarah J Maas (I know, her fans are rabid, I promise I don’t bite), Raven Kennedy, and Cassandra Clare (From my youth!). My favorite reads from 2025 were One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig and Heartless Hunter by Kristen Ciccarelli.
I would say my first step into the writing world began on Gaia Online’s role playing forums. For those unfamiliar, you write a scene from your character’s POV, and someone responds in their characters POV, and you continue to go on back and forth. I started this in middle school and would spend HOURS role playing online.
In high school, I began writing for my high school’s news paper, The Sun Devil Times. I wrote for them for three years and even became an editor. I considered becoming a journalist, but I have grown to hate everything the media has come to represent.
So instead a became a mechanic and stepped back from writing for a few years. I became a female non-destructive inspector in a male dominated field, to constantly have my calls be questioned and prove my competency every day.
I recently stepped back into writing and have applied my lived experience to write a story based on the biases against women and how they can overcome them through determination and sheer will.
My work is largely inspired by Throne of Glass due to its wide range of characters and their development, as well as the political and world building aspects of A Song of Ice and Fire. My POV style is similar to Six of Crows and my series structure will resemble the Cinder series.
I hope that you all will join me on my journey to hopefully finish, query, and publish my debut novel: The Crimson Heir, the first book in a planned series, The Age of Goddesses.
Ren Wayland
Works of Ren Wayland 