J. G. Velez II

To my loving family, friends, and fiancée, none of this could have been possible without you.

As a kid, J. G. always assumed being creative meant drawing, coloring, painting, that sort of thing. Never did he imagine that creativity meant so much more. He simply did the assigned homework, watched cartoons or played with LEGOs, and off to bed he went, unaware that illustrating with words was a thing.

His obsession with writing presented itself during a high school computer science class, which he may or may not have given his fullest attention to. Anyway, while in that class J. G. took a crack at writing a play, one that was based on La fea más bella, a Mexican novella he watched together with his mom. He also had a profound interest in 18th century history, which he still does, and wrote A Political Romance, a short story set in England.

Other inspirations that helped propel J. G.’s passion for writing include gaming—well video games to be exact. These involved exciting multiplayer online role-playing games (mmorpgs) that typically have open world settings such as World of Warcraft, the Elder Scrolls Online (one of his favorites!), and Guild Wars. As energized as these worlds made him, motivation also came from the Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Lord of the Rings universes.

J. G. enjoys music and attending concerts, gaming, going to bars and places with good food, or you’ll find him at Disney California Adventure enjoying the many delectable treats. He lives in SoCal with his fiancée and two pet budgies, Cosmo and Gimli.

Why Gylranor?

“Wanting a realm of fantasy I could call my own, and inspired greatly by the successful origin stories of the creators for these universes, I embarked to create A Story of Gylranor, a series full of extensive lore and mysteries at every corner. I began work on book one in 2012 and set off to complete the four-part series, which I did during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s been a journey to say the least, and I couldn’t be happier to share what I’ve worked so extensively on. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!”