Susan L Markloff
Dogs. Dragons. Doctrine.
I've always loved fantastical stories. Ones where animals talk and people embark on adventures as part of their daily routine. Where dragons fill the skies and homes are filled with cozy stone fireplaces and towers of books and where wishing on a star really can make dreams come true. I also believe that a lot of fantastical things exist in reality, and love adventuring into the less traveled by paths to find the lost or abandoned rubble of what used to stand on ancient soil.
I've been writing since elementary school, but didn't take it seriously until college, shortly after one of my brothers managed to get me to talk about a story I'd been carrying around for about five years at that point. During my time at Houghton College, I wrote what would be the first very bad drafts of The Human-Born Era. Now, over fifteen years later, I'm publishing that story and aiming to do so to the highest quality available to me.
When I'm not writing, you could find me in western New York visiting friends, huddled in a living room with my Bible study as we dive into the Word, traveling to a convention, or at the local dog park letting my husky, Kaldok, get some of his zoomies out.
Here's a few oddball things about me:
1. I became an avid fan of coffee only after graduating from college.
2. Antiquing is a favorite past-time for me and my family.
3. I eat M&M's in color order, and tend to put them into little pyramids. I don't know why.
4. Kayaking and hiking are my favorite outdoor activities.
5. My heart is in the woods and in a perfect world, I would own a small cabin and like, ten acres of land.
The Dogs
Pinkerton
In August of 2024 lost my dog of 11+ years, and have been mourning that loss. He was a rescue that I got shortly after graduating from college, and he was with me through a lot. A few different jobs and a couple different careers. And saying goodbye to him has been hard. I will miss him terribly.
Kaldok
He's named after the fan-favorite werewolf on the Alpha Team, but his personality is 100% that of Krelien's. With a touch of mischievousness, a dash of goofiness, and a boatload of malicious compliance, this goober has found his place in our family since joining us in mid October 2024. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see him grace my stories pretty often.
The Dragons
Fides
The ethereal like Elder with feathered wings and a reflective nature to his scales. He's always evoked the spiritual realm to me, radiating colors I can't imagine. He seems like he should be pristine, but his reflective nature means he isn't perfectly white since he reflects what he's near. He's ever changing in his appearance yet constant in his nature.
Spero
The armored Elder with scars across his body and a blinded eye, Spero is the most "generic dragon" of the Elders, with a fairly normal look about him. But his winding horns and his golden eyes that blaze like the sun have always spurred courage in me, and enlivened me to keep going even when the road gets long.
Diligo
The mountainous Elder. Unmovable and unchangeable, gentle and stern to those he loves and fiercely destructive to anyone who harms those loved ones. I absolutely adore the duality of him; his massive, imposing nature and his soft, gentle eyes. He chases away fears and tears through walls to protect those under his care, and I would forever feel safe in his presence.
The Doctrine
I am a Christian, and I do believe in the Bible. I base my theology off of Scripture, not off of a denomination or political party. I don't agree with lukewarm preaching that never dives into the meat of Scripture (because as the Apostle Paul writes, we eventually need to eat meat and not milk), and I don't think it's right to willingly let people saunter into Hell just so that they can remain comfortable in their sin. But, I'll never try to force anyone to agree with me, let alone listen to me. My books do feature a rainbow, but I was pointing to the real, actual rainbow and the promise the Lord made with it, not the false rainbow with only 6 colors. My books might make you feel a little uncomfortable--that goes for both sides.
My books aren't "squeaky clean", and I never intended them to be. They're rough and hard and have bad people that do bad things. But those bad things and the bad people are never glorified. You might feel uncomfortable about how things are described in my books, and that's the point. You're supposed to feel icky when a 2,000 year old man wants to sleep with a teenager. You should feel uncomfortable when I call lust what it is and lay it bare. You should feel uncomfortable when broken, lost people do and then celebrate awful things. But we're all broken, lost people. None of us are above reproach and none of us get out of this life with a passing grade on our own. No matter how virtuous a person is, they still will struggle with sin. We all do. And we all need someone to save us. It's counter cultural and "old fashioned", but that doesn't make it not true.
I'm not here to shove Christianity down your throat. But I do believe that it's the only way to eternal life, and that the Bible is 100% the inspired Word of God, written by multiple people but directed by the Author of Creation. Because I'm a Christian, even though I don't write strictly Christian fiction, my beliefs will make their way into my stories. And that's true of all authors. No one can write and not have that writing inspired by what they believe, no matter how hard we try. Every author's writing will be influenced by something, whether it's their religion, their upbringing, their political views, their bias, or their prejudices.