About the Author

In a past life, I was a very wealthy and fierce warrior with great power. I used power for selfish reasons and caused suffering in many small villages. It was not until my last battle that I realized the path I had taken was flawed. I left the battlefield injured inside and out. I lost one eye, but my third eye opened wide. I abandoned the spoils of war and fled luxury to find a home outside of a quiet, seaside village. I removed the blade from my spear and replaced it with a blood-stained stone, collected from the mangled earth of my last fight. With this staff by my side, I created a new life, a solitary life. 

One day, after surviving for a decade in a small hut near a rock outcrop overlooking the sea, I received a visitor. He asked if I was the great warrior he had looked up to all his life. I did not answer. He asked where I lost my eye. I did not answer. He asked why I lived all alone. I did not answer. At that moment, I saw my past, my present, and my future unravel like a twisted rope that had been cut. The young warrior, frustrated with my silence, tossed me off the cliff and into the sea, shouting that I would take my secrets to a watery grave.

I drifted in the waves as I drifted through time until I was born into this life. Now both the enemies and the battles are on the inside. Rather than destroy lives, I shape them. I have taught hundreds of children and have created two of my own. My army consists of two black cats who guard and protect us from evil both seen and unseen. I care for the land, instead of conquering it. I break open the earth with fingers and trowel, not spear and arrows. The only blood to be spilled on the soil is my own. And the only battle cry that I respond to is the sound of the rain, and the wind, and the thunder.

The warrior inside remains dormant as long as it is well fed. I read once that you become the part of you that you feed, but I believe the opposite is true. The demon who goes hungry will be far more dangerous than the one who is satisfied. Life is balance, not denial.

My name is Steph Wolmarans and I am a speculative fiction author. 

Welcome to my site. Here you will find short and flash fiction stories and updates on my novel-in-progress. I participate in the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop on the first Wednesday of each month and the bimonthly Write, Edit, Publish writing prompt.

One of my short stories was published in the 2021 Insecure Writers Support Group Anthology, Dark Matter:  Artificial. Pick up a copy for ten excellent Sci-Fi stories touching on the theme of dark matter.

In 2021, I was awarded Write, Edit, Publish awards for February Brilliant Debut and June Winner.

 

I also successfully completed the 2021 A-to-Z Challenge!

Thank you for your visit! Safe journeys!