About the author

Dean Raven was born in Nottingham, United Kingdom, and now lives in Melbourne, Australia.

Dean tells stories where ordinary people face extraordinary challenges.

He’s the author of Remember My Name and the Bringer of the Dark fantasy series, as well as award-winning short fiction.

Blending imagination and insight, Dean explores big questions about who we are, how we live and where we are heading. His work moves between the everyday and the epic – finding humour, humanity and a touch of magic in this and other worlds.

When he’s not writing, Dean can usually be found chasing ideas about philosophy, physics and the unique beauty of being alive.

Please write to contact@deanraven.online if you have with any questions or suggestions.

Interview with Dean Raven

The following interview deals with some of Dean’s inspirations and motivations.

How would you describe your writing style?

I read a lot of modern classics, so I would hope my style reflects that. I love the cleverness and humour of EM Forster, the simple, evocative language of John Steinbeck, the over-the-top drama of Emily Bronte, the ‘boys own adventure’ style of RL Stevenson, and, of course, the horror and thrills of HP Lovecraft, Mary Shelley and Stephen King.

Did you grow up with this kind of literature?

Yes. When I was a kid we didn’t have much money, but we went a lot to second-hand stores and car boot sales, so I bought a lot of cheap books. And ratty copies of modern classics were the cheapest. That was when I bought my first copy of Treasure Island, which changed my life.

When did you get into fantasy and horror?

When I was young, my parents bought a Betamax and they (we) soon became addicted to renting slasher and monster movies. I progressed from there to the horror classics and horror short story compilations.

Then in my teens, something weird happened. My family’s addiction turned to soapies like Dallas, Dynasty and Prisoner, and I left horror behind for a while and took up Sidney Sheldon.

So that explains Remember My Name.

You could say that. Remember My Name is my version of a Sydney Sheldon novel … written in the style of EM Forster and with a social conscience around capitalism, morality and the meaning of family.

When I first started writing I was targeting short story competitions, and social satire seemed like the best genre for that medium. I liked writing about ordinary people in extraordinary situations, so when I wanted to write a novel, it was only natural I would come up with a social satire.

And then you went back to horror for Dark Farm.

After taking a few years to get over the exhaustion of writing 240,000 words for Remember My Name while also having a full-time job, I found I needed to write some escapist literature. That took me back to my old love of horror, particularly cosmic horror … something I could have fun with. I wrote Dark Farm first as a screenplay as that was the best way to find a structure that works for a complex series and places the focus on action, momentum and character arcs.

So yes, the screenplay … how did you move from a screenplay to another novel?

I’d done a short course on screenwriting and wrote a few short film scripts, so I figured it was time to write a blockbuster screenplay. I’d never done a full movie script before so I decided I would tackle something familiar. The first thing that came to mind was Lovecraft. I love schlocky Lovecraft movies but I always thought there’s a market gap for strong movie adaptations of Lovecraft works. 

The toughest thing about HP is that he wasn’t very good at character development – he was all about the cosmic terror. Because of my experience with Remember my Name, I felt I knew a fair bit about writing characters, so I wanted to combine this with a Lovecraft story or two.

And then I sat on it, not quite sure what to do with it.

You didn’t want to market it?

I did, but I knew as a novice screenwriter I had little to no chance of selling it. So after a while, when I couldn’t stop thinking about the characters and what had happened to them, I decided it wouldn’t take much to pad out the script and turn it into a novel. And hey presto! – Dark Farm.

What is your aim for Dark Farm and the Bringer of the Dark series?

There’s obviously a longstanding Lovecraft universe out there, and Dark Farm is in some ways a sequel, in some ways a reboot of HP’s original world. It also adds new villains and monsters. My series is really about Kragn, a primordial god, and all the new gods and monsters I create will lead towards Kragn’s plan for the universe and the Gates brothers’ defence of it.

At this stage I’m planning two trilogies. The first will concern itself with Dylan, Arika and Kane as they grow their respective powers. The second will take an even darker turn. But that’s all I can say for the time being!

Dean Raven is represented by 939 Publishing, a division of Kidz@Heart Pty Ltd.