About Kel

Kel E Fox is an author and illustrator with short stories and poetry published with Deadset Press, Breach zine and the Canberra Speculative Fiction Guild. Their first short story, ‘The Inheritance Experiment’, won an editor’s choice award in 2018.

In 2021, Kel released their debut novel, Darkhaven. It’s the first of a contemporary fantasy saga about a 17-year-old girl who gets struck by lightning, develops superpowers, stumbles into a global conspiracy and meets an alien god — all in the same day.

Kel was shortlisted for a 2023 Plaza Prize (SFF First Chapters).

In addition to reading, writing, and painting, Kel enjoys ballroom dancing, Magic the Gathering and eating chocolate. They live in Perth, Australia with their partner, a wilful Alaskan Malamute named after Nighteyes and a robot vacuum that picks up all the fur and only occasionally demands pats.

Influences

A.K.A. my favourite reads!

While I don’t presume that I’ve managed to imbue my work with the same sort of genius I admire in others’ writing, style is largely a matter of soaking up material and forming new interpretations from it. Here’s what I enjoy, which can either serve as a list of books you might like to read, or maybe an indication of whether you’ll like mine, assuming I’ve managed to absorb anything.

  • Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
  • Creature Court, Belladonna U and Castle Charming by Tansy Rayner Roberts
  • The Scorpio Races, the Raven Cycle and the Dreamer trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater
  • Shades of Magic by V. E. Schwab
  • Scholomance by Naomi Novik
  • Doctrine of Labyrinths by Katherine Addison
  • Magpie Sequence by KJ Charles
  • Discworld by Terry Pratchett
  • The Grishaverse duologies by Leigh Bardugo
  • The Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks
  • The Arc of a Scythe by Neal Shusterman
  • Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling

Books I love, but completionist readers be warned: these series have remained unfinished for extended periods:

  • Legendsong saga by Isobelle Carmody
  • Gentleman Bastards by Scott Lynch
  • The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss