About Me
Hello, lovely!
I'm Elisabeth Wheatley. I write books with High Fantasy and Epic Romance. I believe in happily ever after (eventually), swords and sorcery, dangerous women, and men who love them.
I'm a lifelong Texan who grew up on a steady diet of Xena: Warrior Princess, Gladiator, and Conan the Barbarian. We lived on a ranch at “the corner of No and Where,” an hour from the nearest grocery store, but I now make my home in the bustling city of Austin. This city a dumpster fire for sure, but it is my dumpster fire, you know? There is plenty of kombucha and the local library is amazing.
As a kid, my cousins forced me to watch The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That led down the slippery slope of reading the books, writing fanfiction, and starting what would become my Argetallam Saga.
My first book, The Key of Amatahns, was published June 30, 2011, when I was 15.
Around the same time, my issues with mental illness had started and would continue into my college years.
My younger sister, Abigail, passed away unexpectedly in 2000. It was a lot for preschool Elisabeth to process and I was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder because of it. Both Amira and Daindreth's curses in Daindreth’s Assassin are based on my experiences with PTSD.
When the time came to start college, my social anxiety was so severe, I couldn’t walk between classes. I'd pretend to be a Mord’Sith inspecting a D’Haran garrison just to muster the nerve. (I DO still lowkey want to be Tabrett Bethell when I grow up.)
With the help of a fantastic therapist and a lot of practice, I can now talk to strangers and even do public speaking. My “sad” days happen much less often and aren’t as bad when they do happen.
(SIDE NOTE: I highly recommend professional help to anyone struggling with mental illness.)
Eventually, I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship that allowed me to attend Concordia University Texas. I graduated with a degree no one can pronounce in a field no one cares about. A family of ravens lived on the roof of my dorm and I liked to imagine they were my acolytes, but let's be real, I was theirs.
The settings for my books are inspired by my two favorite regions—semi-arid central Texas and the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest. I love running and hiking and like to imagine leading a battle charge while on the trails. I also frequently negotiate my husband, Christian, into accompanying me.
After a disappointing stint with multiple dating apps, I decided to try arranged marriage and hired a matchmaker. (I honestly think reading all those arranged marriage romances prepared me for this decision.)
After a few more disappointments, I was introduced to Christian. I gave him a ring box on our first date and, to my honest surprise, he didn’t run away. Inside was a D20 for playing Dungeons and Dragons and we still host regular games where I serve as Dungeon Master.
I quickly found Christian to be the culmination of all my favorite book boyfriends in human form and we were married in April 2022. Our wedding vows blatantly plagiarized Brandon Sanderson quotes and our rings are inscribed with the First Ideal of the Knights Radiant.
Christian is into technology and memes and can be found at glssjg.com.
So yeah. That's me! Want to get in touch? Email elisabeth (at) elisabethwheatley.com.
NOTE ON REVIEW REQUESTS: I receive lots of requests from lovely authors, asking me to review their books—more requests than I am humanly able to accept. Because of this, I am limiting review requests to authors whose books I have already read and loved. If you are unsure if you might be in that category, feel free to check my Goodreads ratings here. Thank you!