Roger Alix-Gaudreau’s love of fantasy started at a young age with weekly visits to the public library, where he’d devour the works of C.S. Lewis, Susan Cooper, J.R.R. Tolkien, and others. One of his sisters claims he loved books more than he loved his family, and she has photographic evidence to prove it! His love of fantasy grew when he discovered tabletop gaming in his teen years, which in turn led him to love stories that are epic in scope, full of action, and loaded with personal moments. Stories in which flawed heroes somehow triumph over powerful forces of darkness help him deal with the world, something we can all use a little help with.
In high school, he discovered theater, and he combined that with his fantasy gaming hobby when he discovered LARPing, where he loved portraying in person the heroic characters he once only imagined at the table. He never thought that LARPing would lead him to learn to sew, work leather, and weave chainmail, but he needed cool costumes for the games. At least, he did until his knees got too creaky to be able to run around all weekend. Now he’s back at the table sharing stories with friends over dice and snacks or treading the boards in community theater productions.
Family and hope are important to Roger, and they’re usually why the characters in his stories keep fighting when they should give up; it’s interesting to explore the lengths people will go to for those they love. He believes everyone in the world should be taught to read and have access to books, and he wants everyone to have the same opportunities to learn and explore ideas that he had as a child. He believes in the importance of libraries as a place of education and the arts; in addition to personal donations to organizations that fight to protect our public libraries, he plans to begin volunteering a few hours a month at his local library to help others develop the same love of reading that drives him.
A New England native, Roger lives in Maine with his wife and two cats. He loves to travel, exploring new places — especially if they have castles! — and meeting new people so he can widen his perspective and bring new details to his writing. When he’s not visiting new places in person, he’s imagining them with friends accompanied by the clattering of polyhedral dice.