Toby (What Makes Me Book 1)

Ila Golden

United Kingdom11 Books

FollowAMA (7)

LGBT Fantasy Horror Teen & Young Adult

BIOGRAPHY
Mixing the pot of magic and realism, Ila Golden is a mature young adult fantasy author, with a focus on personal relationships and identity exploration. They started creating their unique stories as a child, telling them to their younger brother on long car journeys. As they grew up and matured into a young adult, writing also became an outlet for them to explore their own burgeoning sense of identity, although it would take until their early 30s for them to have the strength and confidence needed to fully realise the unique individual they were always meant to become.

Their history as an indie author began after they graduated from the University of Winchester in 2008, with a 2:1 degree in Creative Writing and Drama. Unfortunately, Blood, Friendship and Marriage: Time Forgets (retired, pending rewrites) was released to little success. Undeterred, Ila tried again with Realms and Reality: Zero Conformity (retired, pending rewrites), but struggled to get traction in part due to issues with the title's publisher.

After a brief pause in releases due to health issues, 2017 saw the release of Echoe through Lulu self-publishing. This was followed in the 2018 by the release of Hyena Boy, and 2019 by The Colours I See, which was also the first title published through KDP.

After seeing an improved initial traction with The Colours I See, Ila made the decision to republish both Echoe and Hyena Boy through KDP, where they've also seen more success. Following this, in August of 2020, Ila released two more titles, The Doll Maker Son books, Broken Before Use and Welcome to Mary's Vail. With success as an indie author looking a lot more promising, if still highly variable, by the end of 2021 they finally finished work on and released all of the books in The Neva Aton Collection. This, however, is not the end of their publishing journey, merely the start of a new chapter.

In their spare time Ila enjoys watching anime, playing video games, and taking care of their two gerbils, Rye-Pie and Zel-Bell. They also have a weekly vlog on their YouTube Channel, where they talk about everything from their creative projects to the daily minutiae of their life.

For updates about new releases and promotions follow Ila Golden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ILAGolden