Marc Secchia

Marc Secchia was born and raised in Cape Town during the final decades of apartheid South Africa, witnessing firsthand the country's extraordinary transition from white minority rule to a fully inclusive democratic nation. With an Italian father and a South African mother, he grew up in a time of profound political and social change. By the time he reached high school, the apartheid system was crumbling, and a new South Africa was taking shape.

One quote has remained a lifelong inspiration: Nelson Mandela's words, "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Marc's passion for storytelling emerged early. When his teachers introduced haiku poetry in junior school, he couldn't resist linking sixteen haiku together into an epic narrative. In high school, he was more likely to be found writing a novel at the back of the classroom than paying attention to the lesson. He read thesauruses for fun and was notorious for being too formidable an opponent at family Scrabble.

An eclectic reader with a love for many genres, Marc began with the hard science fiction of Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, and Piers Anthony before immersing himself in the worlds of classic high fantasy. Authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Terry Pratchett, and Terry Goodkind all left their mark, but his greatest literary inspiration has always been Anne McCaffrey, particularly her Dragonriders of Pern series. Her intelligent, telepathic dragons ignited the imagination that would later shape his own fantasy worlds.

His Italian heritage is evident in his love of Italian cuisine, and he freely admits he would do almost anything for the chance to own a Ferrari. For the past fourteen years, Marc has lived and worked in Ethiopia with his wife and their four children, where he continues to write the epic fantasy and science fiction adventures that have captivated readers around the world.

https://www.marcsecchia.com